New Delhi: Coffee giant Starbucks on Friday named Indian-origin Laxman Narasimhan as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Narasimhan will relocate from London to the Seattle area and join Starbucks on October 1. He replaces Howard Schultz, who will continue as interim CEO until April 2023.
Narasimhan (55) was CEO of UK-based Reckitt, makers of Lysol cleaner and Enfamil baby formula, among other products. Before that, he held various leadership roles at PepsiCo. He also served as CEO of the company’s Latin America, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa operations.
“We really do believe that we have found an exceptional individual to be our next CEO. He’s a tested leader,” Starbucks board chairwoman Mellody Hobson said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal.
The company aims to open more than 20,000 cafes globally by the end of the decade. After buying out the local Starbucks coffee outpost in 1987, Schultz moulded Starbucks’s image and customer experience, developing its cafes as a place to linger over espressos and lattes.
