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Unilever’s CEO, Fernando Fernandez, has revealed that the company has initiated an assessment of its top 200 leaders amid efforts to boost performance and tackle ‘mediocrity’.

Fernandez, who was appointed to the role of CEO in March 2025, revealed the initiative on 3 September during the annual Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference.

The company is working with consulting firm Korn Ferry to review top 200 leaders “one by one,” he stated, to ensure benchmarking with the market.

“Are they good enough, are they at the level that Unilever deserves, yes or no,” Fernandez said, adding that the company expects a 25% leadership refreshment following the assessment.

Over the last 18 months, Fernandez confirmed that Unilever has reduced its white-collar workforce by 18%. This comes amid targets to deliver $800 million cost savings by the end of 2026, with the CPG giant currently on track to achieve $650 million of cumulative savings by the end of this year.

“We have absolute accountability now in the company,” Fernandez said. “We are ensuring ruthless execution everywhere.”

He continued: “In every market we have codified what metrics we will measure. All our operators…know what they have to deliver. We are fed up with the mediocrity that we have in some places. We are attacking that fast.”

The company saw sales growth of 3.4% in the first half of 2025, with positive volume growth across all business groups in the second quarter.

Unilever is prioritising particular investment in the US and India, and is on track to complete the demerger of its ice cream unit – announced in March last year – by mid-November 2025. The operational separation is now complete, with Fernandez noting that the demerger is having a “significant” impact on the group’s financials.

“Our first half performance positions us well for the full year,” Fernandez commented on the results. “In the second half, we expect further acceleration in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, and sustained momentum in developed markets.”

“We are building a marketing and sales machine that drives desire at scale in our power brands and ensures execution excellence across all channels to deliver consistent volume growth and gross margin expansion.”