HUL appoints Rohit Jawa as the new MD and CEO

Rohit Jawa will also take over as president, Unilever South Asia. He will join the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) effective 1 April, 2023. After a transformational tenure of 10 years at the helm of HUL, Sanjiv Mehta will retire from the company.

As the Chairman of Unilever Philippines, Jawa led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally. Sanjiv Mehta took over as the MD and CEO of HUL in October 2013. During his decade at the helm, the business crossed the 50 thousand crore turnover mark and the market capitalisation of the company increased more than four times from USD 17 billion to USD 75 billion.

Currently, Jawa is the chief of transformation for Unilever in London where since January 2022, he has successfully orchestrated the once-in-a-decade, end-to-end transformation of Unilever. He started his career with HUL as a management trainee in 1988 and has a proven track record of sustained business results across - India, South East Asia, and North Asia. As EVP for North Asia and chairman for Unilever China, he led a significant transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business, now Unilever’s 3rd biggest globally. 

To make the business more future-fit, Mehta kickstarted the Reimagine HUL agenda by leveraging data, harnessing latest technologies, and designing business models to redefine how HUL engages with consumers, customers, and the way the business operates. He has led the business into future growth segments with several strategic mergers and acquisitions such as the amalgamation of GSK Consumer Healthcare into HUL, one of the biggest mergers in the history of FMCG in the country. 

Under his leadership, various programmes, such as the Hindustan Unilever Foundation, Project Shakti, Project Prabhat and Suvidha scaled new heights, reinforcing his commitment to responsible growth. Mehta actively championed the diversity agenda making HUL an even more inclusive organisation.

Thanking Sanjiv Mehta for his contribution to the business, Nitin Paranjpe, non-executive chairman, HUL said, “Sanjiv Mehta with his foresight has led HUL to become a high-performing and future-fit business. He has been an integral part of the Unilever Leadership Executive and has driven the South Asia growth agenda as the president of the market cluster. As the President of FICCI last year, he made a significant contribution towards the industry in India.”