HUL appoints Koteshwar L.N. as Oziva CEO to sharpen wellness focus

MUMBAI: A fresh dose of leadership is joining HUL’s wellness playbook. As India’s appetite for preventive healthcare and nutrition gathers pace, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has appointed Koteshwar L.N. as the new chief executive officer of Oziva, signalling a stronger push into one of the country’s fastest-growing consumer categories.

The appointment comes just months after HUL completed the acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent stake in Zywie Ventures, making Oziva a wholly owned subsidiary. The FMCG giant has identified health and wellbeing as a key growth engine as consumers increasingly gravitate towards nutrition, functional foods and preventive healthcare products.

According to media reports, Koteshwar will report to Harman Dhillon, HUL’s Executive Director, Beauty & Wellbeing. Beyond leading Oziva, he will also oversee HUL’s broader wellness portfolio, including Liquid I.V., as the company looks to build a more integrated health and nutrition business. Koteshwar brings more than two decades of experience across FMCG, beverages and e-commerce. Before joining HUL, he held senior business and brand leadership roles at Marico, and has also worked with Flipkart and The Coca-Cola Company, building and scaling consumer brands across multiple categories.

The leadership change comes as competition intensifies in the wellness nutrition market, where established FMCG companies and digital-first brands are racing to capture growing demand for protein supplements, plant-based nutrition, hydration products and preventive health solutions. HUL first entered Oziva in 2023 by acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Zywie Ventures. Since then, the brand has grown rapidly, with HUL’s annual report showing Oziva reaching nearly Rs 480 crore in revenue while recording a compound annual growth rate of almost 130 per cent over the two years following the investment.

The company strengthened its commitment to the category in February 2026, when it acquired the remaining 49 per cent stake in Zywie Ventures for Rs 824 crore. At the time, Priya Nair, CEO and Managing Director of HUL, described health and wellbeing as a strategic growth vector, underlining the company’s plans to accelerate expansion in the category.

With Oziva now fully integrated into HUL’s portfolio and fresh leadership at the helm, the FMCG major is positioning itself to capture a bigger share of India’s rapidly evolving wellness market, where health-conscious consumers are reshaping the future of everyday nutrition.