Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP), today announced that Jan Zijderveld has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
He succeeds Sheri McCoy, who previously announced her intention to retire from the Company and Board. Jan will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors.
Jan joins Avon from Unilever N.V./PLC (“Unilever”), a global leader in personal care, home and food products, where he has had a 30-year career, living and working in seven countries across three continents. He most recently served as a member of Unilever’s Executive Committee, and as President of Unilever’s $14 billion European business.
As President of Europe, Jan was responsible for Unilever’s largest operating business, encompassing 34 countries and 25,000 employees. Under Jan’s leadership, the European business stabilized and returned to growth and improved profitability following several years of decline and during significantly challenging market conditions.
He previously served as Executive Vice President in South East Asia and Australasia, where he drove substantial organic growth through a significant step-up in innovation, market development and in-store execution. During this time Jan was also Non-Executive Chairman of Unilever’s listed Indonesian business, with a market capitalisation in excess of $20 billion.
Prior to that, as CEO of Unilever, Middle East and North Africa, Jan successfully led a complex business, in a volatile region, which included many joint