Unilever Phils' leadership handed over to Cowan

MANILA, Philippines - Business and industry partners of Unilever Philippines gathered during the official handover of chairmanship from Fernando Fernandez to Peter Cowan, a former vice president of Alberto Culver, responsible for the entire Asia Pacific and Africa business.

Fernandez will be leaving Unilever Philippines to run the 2nd largest company of Unilever, its Brazil operations.

Fernandez led Unilever Philippines to a stellar growth performance, capping it off with the much coveted “Serve, Grow, Deliver” award, besting the other countries in the Asia, Africa, Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe region. The award gives honor to Unilever companies that showed outstanding performance in serving, growing and delivering to its shareholders and to around 4.7 billion consumers across the region.

“I firmly believe that Unilever Philippines is in the path to greatness. There will be ups and downs, but the foundations are solid: a great portfolio of brands, outstanding execution capabilities in the field, a competitive end-to-end supply chain, new systems and processes taking place and fundamentally, a great Human Capital with the right competitive spirit,” Fernandez said when asked about the success of Unilever Philippines.

Fernandez was able to turbo-charge the company’s vision, that brought to life product innovations that provided consumers with quality products at an affordable price, increased reach in outlets and exhibited an outstanding safety record and garnered numerous awards from customers and industry partners, including the Grand Master Award for the first Zero Basura Olympics – a competition that showcased the best “green” practices among the private sector.

Cowan takes over as chairman and CEO of Unilever Philippines. He has had a long and successful career across a span of several companies and fast moving consumer goods’ industries. He joined Unilever as a result of its acquisition of Alberto Culver. His transformational leadership allowed Alberto Culver to achieve number two position in hair care across several core markets while delivering sustainable profitable growth.

Prior to heading the entire Asia Pacific and Africa business of Alberto Culver, Cowan was with another top performing personal care company in global, regional and country management/marketing roles. He also had assignments in global infant care and Asia Pacific feminine hygiene and experience across the food and beverages business.

“I am delighted to be joining an impressive Unilever organization and continuing the growth journey,” Cowan said during the external handover of the company. “Over the years I have had the pleasure of visiting Manila on many occasions and do have an appreciation of the unique market opportunities and challenges in the Philippines,” Cowan added.