HUL Appoints Britannia's Rajneet Kohli As Head Of Food Business, Starting April
Ranjeet Kohli comes with over 28 years of experience across the consumer goods and retail sectors and has a strong track record of leading for high performance and transformation.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd has roped in Rajneet Kohli, former chief executive and executive director of Britannia Industries Ltd, to spearhead its food business starting April 7, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kohli will succeed Shiva Krishnamurthy, who will move on from his role to pursue an "external opportunity", HUL said in an exchange filing.
Kohli had stepped down from his role at Britannia effective March 14.
He comes with over 28 years of experience across the consumer goods and retail sectors and has a strong track record of leading for high performance and transformation.
In his last role as CEO and executive director of Britannia, Kohli played a key role in strengthening the company’s position in the highly competitive food and bakery segment by driving product innovation, building trusted brands and digital capabilities.
Prior to this, he has held leadership roles in companies including Jubilant Foodworks, The Coca-Cola Co. and Asian Paints.
HUL's foods and refreshment division is its second largest after home care, following a split last year in the company’s beauty and personal care division into beauty and wellbeing and personal care businesses. In FY24, the F&R division contributed 25% of HUL's Rs 59,579 crore turnover. This portfolio comprises 14 major brands, including Kissan ketchup, Bru coffee, Knorr noodles, Brooke Bond tea, Horlicks malt drinks and Lipton tea.
"Foods is a large business unit for HUL with strong growth potential," said HUL MD & CEO Rohit Jawa. "Rajneet brings extensive experience in managing large food and beverage businesses and driving high performance. I am confident that he will lead the foods business to the next phase of growth and transformation."
Jawa also thanked Krishnamurthy for his contribution to HUL's business over the years. "Under his leadership, HUL became the market leader in Tea, delivered iconic communications that won prestigious marketing accolades and transformed the portfolio to win in faster growing spaces."
