Starbucks names Indian-origin Laxman Narasimhan as new CEO

Starbucks has named a longtime PepsiCo executive as its new CEO The coffee giant said Thursday that Laxman Narasimhan will join Starbucks on Oct 1 after relocating from London to Seattle where Starbucks is basedHe will work closely with Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz through April 1 when he will assume the CEO role and join the companyrsquos boardSchultz said Narasimhan is ldquouniquely positionedrdquo to lead the company with a demonstrated track record of growth in both mature and emerging marketsldquoAs I have had the opportunity to get to know him it has become clear that he shares our passion of investing in humanity and in our commitment to our partners customers and communitiesrdquo Schultz said in a statementAlso readThis Twitter exchange between Starbucks and Flipkart is legendaryNarasimhan 55 was most recently CEO of Reckitt a UKbased consumer health hygiene and nutrition company that makes Lysol cleaner and Enfamil formula among other products Reckitt had announced Narasimhanrsquos surprise departure earlier Thursday Reckitts shares dropped 5 per cent following the announcementPrior to that Narasimhan held various leadership roles at PepsiCo including as global chief commercial officer He also served as CEO of the companyrsquos Latin America Europe and SubSaharan Africa operations Narasimhan has also served as a senior partner at the consulting firm McKinsey amp Co where he focused on its consumer retail and technology practices in the US Asia and IndiaSchultz a longtime CEO who helped shape Starbucks after buying it in 1987 came out of retirement and assumed the interim CEO job in March after the companys former CEO Kevin Johnson announced his retirement Schultz also returned to the companys board and will remain there even after Narasimhan takes overAlso read Starbucks to ban porn on free WiFi in USSchultz said he had not planned to return but wanted to help reshape the company after the pandemic which upended Starbucks coffee shops and sped changes including a heavier mix of drivethru orders Narasimhan takes over a company with significant strengths Starbucks reported record demand in the AprilJune period as strong US sales made up for continuing closures in China the companys secondlargest marketBut Starbucks also has challenges Schultz has been working on a plan to remake store layouts upgrade equipment and bolster employees who came out of the pandemic feeling harassed and underappreciated Starbucks announced a 1 billion investment in employee wages and benefits last fall and added 200 million more for pay worker training and other benefits in May Still the company faces an unprecedented unionization effort which it opposesAt least 233 US Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year Narasimhan worked with unions at Reckitt where 23 per cent of employees were unionised at the end of last year He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune in India and a masters degree in German and international studies from The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania He also has a masters in business administration from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton SchoolThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever