Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s newish chief executive, was hired from a Dutch dairy co-operative, which isn’t always the first port of call when you’re looking for a get-tough boss to shock an international consumer goods titan out of its complacency, which was the rough brief to the headhunters once Nelson Peltz, feared US activist, had entered the Dove-to-Knorr boardroom. But the milkman is clearly out to make an impact.
In act one last autumn, he opined that “force-fitting” worthy values on to brands can be an “unwelcome distraction”, a view that hasn’t been heard from Unilever in a few decades. In Thursday’s act two, Schumacher said full-year numbers for 2023 that mildly cheered the stock market – the shares rose 3% – weren’t actually much good. “Our competitiveness remains disappointing and overall performance needs to improve,” he said.
