Over roughly the previous yr, a minimum of half a dozen main gamers, together with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), Dabur India, Britannia Industries and Colgate-Palmolive India, have introduced modifications on the very prime, with Nestle India having already gone by its personal transition simply earlier than this cycle started.
A troublesome working backdrop
The administration modifications come in opposition to a backdrop of a troublesome enterprise setting for FMCG companies. Firms are coping with uneven shopper demand, rising competitors from regional and native manufacturers, and stress to maintain volumes rising whereas defending market share, profitability and earnings. Rising enter prices, pushed by geopolitical uncertainty and supply-chain disruptions, have added to the pressure, whilst traders push more durable for sustainable progress and higher margins.
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On the identical time, a shift in direction of premium merchandise is altering what shoppers need throughout classes, forcing FMCG corporations to remodel their product portfolios and construct stronger innovation capabilities to faucet into higher-value demand.
GCPL’s shock exitProbably the most jarring of those strikes was Sudhir Sitapati’s abrupt departure from GCPL earlier this month, an exit that caught the trade off guard. Sitapati stepped down simply days after shareholders had cleared his reappointment for a contemporary five-year time period. The information despatched GCPL shares tumbling as a lot as 11 per cent to a 52-week low the subsequent day, its worst single-day fall in years. The corporate has since named group Chief Monetary Officer Aasif Malbari to succeed him.
Colgate’s transition
Colgate-Palmolive India has additionally introduced a change on the helm. Managing director and CEO Prabha Narasimhan will transfer right into a wider Asia-Pacific advertising and marketing position from the shut of enterprise on September 27, handing over to former Colgate government Manish Anandani, who takes cost as her successor from September 28.
Taken collectively, trade watchers see these modifications as an indication that boards are more and more favouring leaders who can execute quicker, win market share, and steer their corporations by an unpredictable shopper and aggressive setting.
How the cycle started
The present wave of change may be traced again to Priya Nair taking on as HUL’s managing director and CEO from Rohit Jawa on August 1, 2025. Jawa had exited almost three years earlier than his five-year time period was as a consequence of finish.
Months later, in November 2025, Britannia Industries noticed the sudden exit of Varun Berry, its government vice-chairman, managing director and CEO, after he had led the biscuits-to-dairy main for greater than a decade. His departure got here roughly three years forward of when his time period was scheduled to finish in 2029. Rakshit Hargave, beforehand CEO of Birla Opus, stepped in as Britannia’s MD and CEO on December 15, 2025.
Dabur India, in the meantime, restructured its management by naming Herjit S Bhalla as CEO of its India enterprise efficient April 2026, whereas elevating Mohit Malhotra to the position of World CEO, successfully splitting the corporate’s India and worldwide mandates. Bhalla brings greater than 25 years of expertise throughout Unilever, Metro Money & Carry and Hershey, the place he had led the India enterprise earlier than shifting into world buyer operations.
Nestle’s shift in direction of digital-first management
Nestle India had already gone by its personal change roughly a yr earlier, with Manish Tiwary taking on as Chairman and Managing Director from August 1, 2025, succeeding Suresh Narayanan, who had guided the corporate by the aftermath of the Maggi disaster over his almost decade-long tenure.
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The selection of Tiwary, former nation head of Amazon India, to interchange Narayanan displays a broader shift in how boards are occupied with management. Narayanan had spent nearly his complete profession within the FMCG trade, together with 18 years at Nestle, and was recognized for his deep grasp of brand-building, distribution and shopper relationships. Tiwary, against this, brings a background rooted in expertise, execution and digital commerce, a sign that Nestle India desires to construct stronger capabilities in e-commerce, data-led decision-making and new-age shopper engagement because it plans its subsequent section of progress.
An analogous generational and strategic shift has performed out at Wipro Shopper Care and Lighting as nicely, the place Vineet Agrawal retired after 4 many years with the corporate. Kumar Chander has since taken over as CEO and Managing Director of Wipro Enterprises, efficient February 1, 2026.
With inputs from PTI
