The top multinationals operating in this industry are run by expats. Whereas in 2008, the peak year for consumer spending in Romania, two Romanian executives, Calin Dragan (Coca-Cola HBC) and Alexandra Gatej (Unilever) were among those running the ten largest FMCG companies, the changes induced by the crisis made foreign owners appoint only expats.
Three or four-year terms are now history for the FMCG top executives and each of the nine multinationals among the top ten companies in this industry changed their chief executive at least twice in 2008-2013.
Gemma Webb, the most powerful female executive in FMCG, who has been running the local operations of cigarette producer British American Tobacco (BAT) since 2012 helped the company make more than 460 million lei (EUR103 million) gross profit last year.
She came to Romania to replace British executive David Waterfield, who drove the sales of the company up almost 70% during the crisis in his three-year term.
Stephane Batoux, the French executive who left Danone to run the largest beverage producer in Romania, Coca-Cola HBC, managed to turn sales around and the company posted its first growth after 2008 last year. The revenue of the bottler rose 12% in lei and 6% in euros and profit increased by 8%.
Batoux’s move to Coca-Cola was considered surprising in the spring of 2012, when the CEO position of his new company had been vacant for three months. Michalis Imellos, the Greek manager who took over after Catalin Dragan, was reassigned at the parent company after a really short term.
Another executive that stayed less than a year in Romania was Gary Whitlie, put in charge of Ursus Breweries, the largest brewer of the country, which has been unable to make any profit for two years now. The company accumulated more than RON60 million losses in 2011 and 2012 compared with the 10% profit margin of 2008.
Three of the top FMCG producers changed their CEOs this year alone and the results of the companies might prompt further changes soon.
Charlie Cunningham-Reid took the helm of the second leading cigarette producer JTI, Hans Dewaele returned to Procter & Gamble Romania (he had previously worked there as a marketing manager in 1994) and Swiss executive Jacques Reber left Nestle Romania to another expat, Herve de Froment.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)