Starbucks Corp. tapped Laxman Narasimhan, chief executive officer of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, as its next CEO, choosing a consumer-industry veteran to chart a new path after the interim tenure of Howard Schultz.
Narasimhan, 55, will join the coffee giant Oct. 1 while longtime leader Schultz, 69, stays at the helm. The new chief will take over fully April 1 and will join the board, on which Schultz also intends to serve. Before his stint at Reckitt, Narasimhan was an executive at global beverage titan PepsiCo Inc.
The incoming CEO is facing a growing union push, along with struggling sales in China, one of the chain’s key areas for growth. Meanwhile, Narasimhan will be working closely with founder Schultz, who’s known as a very hands-on leader.
