Seven senior Bestfoods executives were today named by Unilever among the top positions for the newly created Foods Division.
The announcement comes shortly after the EU approved the merger of the businesses. Earlier today shareholders of Unilever and of Bestfoods voted overwhelmingly in favor of the creation of one of the world’s leading foods businesses.
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The Bestfoods appointments, effective January 1, 2001, comprise Anthony Simon, who becomes President, Marketing; Diego Bevilacqua as President, Foodservice; Neil Beckerman as President, Foods North America; Oscar Imbellone as Executive Vice President, Foods Latin America; Richard Oppenheim who becomes Executive Vice President, Foods Europe; and Jim Liberty as Senior Vice President, Human Resources. Merrill Eastman remains President, Bestfoods Baking Company.
Unilever reported that Dick Shoemate, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bestfoods, had elected not to continue a full-time executive role, but will be appointed an Advisory Director of Unilever. Roy Brown, a director of Unilever, will relinquish on medical advice his role as President, Foods and Beverages Europe as of January 1, 2001. He will retire at next year’s annual general meeting.
At the same time, Unilever has announced a number of key appointments in its new Foods and Home and Personal Care (HPC) Divisions.
Unilever Chairmen, Niall FitzGerald and Antony Burgmans said: “We have moved rapidly following the approvals from shareholders and the regulatory authorities to settle these appointments. We have put in place teams in our Foods and HPC divisions that will drive Unilever forward to its challenging Path to Growth goals of accelerated growth and enhanced operating margins. We are delighted that so many excellent Bestfoods managers have decided to join their Unilever colleagues in what we are confident will be an outstanding leadership team.”
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By GlobalDataNote to Editors: 1. For full details of appointments, see attached. 2. Details of Unilever’s new structure can be accessed on www.unilever.com
REALIGNMENT OF UNILEVER SENIOR MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
On August 4, 2000, Unilever announced an evolution of its top management structure, creating two global divisions – one for Foods and one for Home and Personal Care (HPC). Patrick Cescau and Keki Dadiseth, both directors of Unilever, have been appointed Foods Director and HPC Director respectively with effect from January 1, 2001.
Today’s announcement names senior appointments within these Divisions.
FOODS DIVISION APPOINTMENTS AS OF JANUARY 1, 2001
Regions
Roy Brown, will relinquish his position of President, Foods and Beverages Europe as of January 1, 2001. He will retire at next year’s AGM.
Neil Beckerman, Vice President, Bestfoods and President, Bestfoods Grocery, will be appointed President, Foods North America.
John Rice, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lipton USA, will be appointed President, Foods Latin America and President of Slimfast worldwide. Oscar Imbellone, Vice President, Bestfoods and President, Bestfoods Latin America , will be appointed Executive Vice President, Foods Latin America.
Manfred Stach, President, Africa, will lead the Unilever/Bestfoods integration team for Foods Europe as of October 1, 2000. He will be appointed President, Foods Europe as of January 1, 2001. He will be supported by two Executive Vice Presidents — Kees van der Graaf, currently Executive Vice President, Operations Foods and Beverages Europe, and Richard Oppenheim, currently General Manager, Bestfoods UK and Vice President, Bestfoods Europe.
Merrill Eastman remains President, Bestfoods Baking Company.
Jean Martin, President, Central and Eastern Europe will lead the team working on the global integration of Unilever Foods and Bestfoods.
Global Businesses
As previously announced two global businesses will be created within the Foods division.
Rob Polet, President, Ice Cream and Frozen Foods Europe, will be appointed President, Ice Cream and Frozen Foods.
Diego Bevilacqua, Vice President, Bestfoods and President, Bestfoods Asia, will be appointed President, Foodservice.
Foods Functions
Anthony Simon, Vice President Strategy and Core Businesses, Bestfoods, will be appointed President, Marketing.
Norman Clubb, Senior Vice President Finance, Central Asia and Middle East , will be appointed Senior Vice President, Finance and Information.
Gerard Hoetmer, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Food and Beverages Europe, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Supply Chain.
Jim Liberty, Vice President, Human Resources, Bestfoods Europe, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources.
Ed Veltkamp, Senior Vice President, Foods Research, URL Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Research and Development.
HPC DIVISION APPOINTMENTS
Regions
Charles Strauss, a director of Unilever, retains his current responsibility as President, Home & Personal Care North America which includes responsibility for the global Prestige business.
John Sharpe retains his current responsibility as President, Home & Personal Care Europe until April 1, 2001, when he will retire as planned after 37 years’ Unilever service.
Ralph Kugler retains his current responsibility as President, Latin America until December 31, 2000. On April 1, 2001 he will succeed John Sharpe as President, Home & Personal Care Europe.
Harish Manwani, Senior Vice President, Home & Personal Care Category Group, will be appointed to Executive Vice President, HPC Latin America as of October 1, 2000. On April 1, 2001 he will be appointed President, Home & Personal Care Latin America.
Tex Gunning retains his current responsibility as President, East Asia Pacific. He will also represent the region on the Foods executive.
Jeff Fraser, President, Central Asia and Middle East , will be appointed President, Central Asia and China . Bruno Lemagne retains his current responsibility for China until August 2001, reporting to Jeff Fraser. Bruno Lemagne’s next appointment will be announced in due course.
Anton Lenstra, Executive Vice President, Home and Personal Care Europe, will be appointed President, Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AMET) as of October 1, 2000. Rachid Rachid, Chairman, Unilever Egypt, will be appointed Executive Vice President, AMET and will represent the region on the Foods Executive.
Global Business
Cetin Yuceulug retains his current responsibility as President, DiverseyLever.
Function Appointments as of January 1, 2001
Simon Clift, Chairman of the Personal Care Category Group, Latin America, will be appointed President, Marketing.
John Ripley, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Strategy and Technology Group, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Finance & Information.
Ian Midgley, Vice President, Operations/MAST, Latin America, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Supply Chain.
Naren Nanda, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Strategy and Technology Group, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources.
Lincoln Krochmal, Senior Vice President, Home & Personal Care Research, Strategy and Technology Group, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Research and Development.
Ton Van Der Laan, retains his current responsibility as Senior Vice President, International Customer Development.
UNILEVER BACKGROUND: Unilever is one of the world’s largest consumer products companies with sales in excess of $45 billion. It produces and markets a wide range of foods, home and personal care products. Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs 255,000 people.
In the United States, Unilever sales exceeded $8 billion in 1999. It employs 22,000 people and has 72 offices and manufacturing sites in 24 states. Two of Unilever’s 12 global Business Groups are headquartered in the United States. Some of their major products are: Foods – North America: Lipton teas, soups, recipe products and side dishes; Wish-Bone salad dressings; Lawry’s seasonings and specialty sauces; Imperial, Promise, Country Crock, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!”, Brummel & Brown spreads and sprays; Ragu pasta and pizza sauces; Five Brothers premium pasta sauces; Klondike, Good-Humor, Popsicle, Breyers and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream products, Gorton’s frozen seafood products and Slim-Fast nutritional and health snack products. Unilever Home and Personal Care – North America: Wisk, “all” and Surf laundry detergents; Snuggle and Final Touch fabric softeners; Sunlight dish detergents; Lever 2000, Caress, Dove and Shield bar soaps; Pond’s and Vaseline skin care products; Q-tips cotton swabs and cotton balls; Mentadent, Aim, Close-up and Pepsodent oral care products; Degree, Suave and Brut deodorant/toiletry products; Finesse, Salon Selectives, Suave, ThermaSilk, Aqua Net and Rave hair care products; and Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden cosmetic and fragrance products. In addition, DiverseyLever, a global professional cleaning business, operates in North America, supplying professional cleaning materials and services to institutional and industrial markets.
