01-03-2025
Unilever's Woes in Indonesia Carry a Warning for Its New CEO
Fernando Fernandez, who takes over Saturday as the new CEO of Unilever Plc, has a track record in emerging markets that have driven the expansion in recent years of what's one of the world's biggest consumer goods groups. The 37-year company veteran will need all the skills he can muster for a market where the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream faces some of its most-entrenched problems: Indonesia.
Consider what he's up against: At Aeon supermarket on the outskirts of Jakarta, Unilever's Rinso detergent was recently priced at 75,500 rupiah ($4.60) against a discounted 29,800 rupiah for local rival Wings Group's SoKlin. The capital's food stalls that use sweet soy sauce — a staple of dishes from chicken satay to 'nasi goreng' — buy Wings' Kecap Sedaap label that's 3,000 rupiah cheaper than Unilever's Bango brand. Some of the corner stores sprouting across the country say they can't directly stock Unilever goods because the company doesn't take small orders.
