Heiko Schipper named President of Unilever Nutrition Business

UK- Unilever, a global consumer goods giant, has announced the appointment of Heiko Schipper as the President of its Nutrition Business Group effective May 1, 2024.

This decision was announced by Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher, highlighting Heiko’s extensive experience and successful track record in the global foods and nutrition industry.

Currently serving as the President of Bayer Consumer Health, Heiko Schipper began his career at Nestlé, accumulating over two decades of experience in sales and marketing roles in Asia.

His journey at Nestlé reached its peak when he assumed the role of CEO of Nestlé’s global Nutrition business division in 2014.

In 2018, Heiko joined Bayer and played a pivotal role in driving significant performance improvements, leading to industry-leading growth for Bayer’s Consumer Health division.

During the appointment, Hein Schumacher expressed confidence in Heiko, stating that Heiko is a global business leader with deep expertise and experience in the foods and nutrition industry and a long track record of delivering sustained high performance.

“I look forward to working with Heiko as Unilever continues its focus on accelerating the growth of its Nutrition business, which includes globally renowned brands like Knorr and Hellmann’s.”

Unilever launches regenerative agriculture initiative

Meanwhile, the company has revealed a collaboration with UK farms cultivating mustard seeds and mint leaves, the suppliers for Colman’s products, to launch its first regenerative agriculture initiative in the country.

The regenerative agriculture project will commence with a four-year trial period, focusing on mustard and mint farms around Norwich and Peterborough.

Partnering with farming cooperatives Unilever aims to address challenges faced by these crops and landscapes through innovative regenerative agriculture practices.

In addition, Unilever has collaborated with the farms to collect baseline data, creating a framework to measure the impact of these practices on soil health, biodiversity, water efficiency, and carbon reduction.

Furthermore, Unilever is actively supporting the development of new technologies for on-farm data collection, including measuring carbon levels in soil in situ.

“We’re on the journey with Unilever and NIAB to integrate regenerative agriculture practices that include strong measurement processes to improve our yield, soil health, and maintain the flavour of a fantastic product,” Mustard farmer Michael Sly shared.

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