Harish Manwani became the First Indian ever to be appointed COO of FMCG Giant Unilever

FMCG giant Unilever elevated Harish Manwani on 24 June 2011 to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO). Prior to being appointed as the COO he was the non-executive chairman of Hindustan Lever.

Manwani will take responsibility for all markets in order to drive speed-to-market behind further simplification and efficiency. Unilever has around 167,000 employees and generated annual sales of 44.3 billion pounds in 2010.

Manwani is currently operating as president, Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe. He joined Hindustan Lever (HLL) in 1976, becoming a member of the HLL board in1995 as director responsible for the personal products business. As category leader for personal products, he held regional responsibility for the Central Asia and Middle East business group.

In 2000, he moved to the UK as senior vice president, global hair care and oral care, and in 2001 was appointed president, home and personal care, Latin America business group. He also served as chairman of Unilever’s Latin America Advisory Council. In 2004, he was appointed president and CEO of the HPC North America business group.  In April 2005 he joined the Unilever Executive as president, Asia, Africa.

Manwani, an honours graduate from Mumbai University with a master’s degree in management studies and also attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
Harish Manwani became the first Indian ever to be elevated to the No. 2 spot at 44.3 billion-euro Unilever, the world’s second-largest consumer goods company.