Washington: Starbucks Corp has named as its new CEO consumer products executive Laxman Narasimhan, months after former head Howard Schultz temporarily took over to steer the coffee giant through rising costs, a unionization push and challenges overseas.
Narasimhan, 55 years old, has served as chief executive of the maker of Lysol and Enfamil baby formula, UK-based Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, for the past three years. Last week he announced he would step down from Reckitt on Sept. 30.
Before heading Reckitt, Narasimhan held various leadership roles at PepsiCo Inc. Starbucks and PepsiCo have a longstanding relationship through the chain’s ready-to-drink coffee, including a deal struck when Narasimhan was CEO of PepsiCo Latin America.
Starbucks in March said then-CEO Kevin Johnson, who led the company for five years, would retire and Schultz, who had turned the Seattle-based coffee chain into a global brand, would take over on an interim basis beginning in April. Schultz has since said that the company had made mistakes in recent years and needs to change, from the way baristas are paid to the blenders in its cafes.
“We really do believe that we have found an exceptional individual to be our next CEO. He’s a tested leader,” Starbucks board chairwoman Mellody Hobson said in an interview. Narasimhan will relocate from London to the Seattle area and join Starbucks as incoming CEO on Oct. 1, the company said.
