MAM
Tata Consumer brews a change as Sharat Verma takes the top role
MUMBAI: The kettle’s whistling at Tata Consumer Products and this time, it’s not just the tea. The company has announced a leadership shake-up, with veteran marketer Sharat Verma set to take over as president of packaged beverages ford India & South Asia (including Organic India) from 1 December 2025.
Verma, who moves from Procter & Gamble, brings over two decades of brand-building prowess, having helmed iconic names like Ariel, Tide, Gillette, Oral-B, and Olay across India, ASEAN, China, and the Middle East. At P&G, he led the 0.5 billion dollars Fabric Care business, clocking a 15 per cent CAGR in one of the most competitive categories. His “Share The Load” campaign remains a landmark in cause-driven brand storytelling, marrying social commentary with sales success.
The appointment follows the resignation of Puneet Das, who exits after eight years at Tata Consumer to pursue new opportunities. Das, who played a pivotal role in the packaged beverages portfolio, leaves behind a strong growth legacy. His departure is effective 3 November 2025.
Another notable exit is Soulfull business president Prashant Parameswaran who steps down on 15 December 2025 for personal reasons. Parameswaran, the driving force behind the Tata Soulfull brand, is credited with positioning the homegrown breakfast brand as a challenger in India’s healthy foods segment.
With Verma’s appointment, Tata Consumer is signalling a renewed focus on consumer-led innovation and storytelling that resonates across Bharat and beyond. The move also reflects a broader trend of FMCG majors courting talent with both local insight and global polish.
In a statement, Tata Consumer Products ltd. said the leadership changes form part of its ongoing transformation to strengthen its core businesses and unlock growth across markets.
For Tata Consumer the company that put the world’s most loved chai on millions of tables this is more than a handover. It’s a fresh blend of strategy and storytelling, brewed perfectly for its next growth chapter.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
