Hein Schumacher
Hein Schumacher is a Dutch businessman, and was the CEO of Unilever from 1 July 2023 to 1 March 2025.
Early life
Schumacher was born on 1 July 1971 in Breda, Netherlands, and was raised in Rucphen. He studied political science and international relations at the University of Amsterdam, and later business administration at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.Career
Schumacher began his career at Unilever.He was previously the CEO of the Dutch dairy co-operative FrieslandCampina from 2018 until 2023.
Before that, he worked at Heinz and was based in China for four years and had a stint at Ahold.
Schumacher has been a non-executive director of Unilever from October 2022 until his appointment as its CEO in July 2023.
In February 2025, the Unilever board ousted Schumacher in favour of former finance chief, Fernando Fernandez.
In January 2026, Schumacher was appointed CEO of Barry Callebaut AG.