Unilever New Zealand appoints new executives

Unilever New Zealand has promoted Nigel Melhuish, Keely Pipkin, and Sailen Mudaly to senior executive positions.

Nigel Melhuish, who will serve as head of country New Zealand in addition to his role as supply chain manager, has been with the company for eight years and has 20 years of expertise in FMCG.

He previously worked at Henkel for 12 years in several roles, including head of process and systems Apac and ANZ supply chain director.

Meanwhile, Keely Pipkin will join the company as head of sales in New Zealand on March 17. Pipkin joins Unilever from Nestle Purina, where she was head of sales.

For the ice cream business in New Zealand, Unilever has named Sailen Mudaly the head of country and sales. Mudaly was most recently the GM of sales at Essano, where he was responsible for driving development across numerous channels and major retail banners in Australia and New Zealand.

“The next year will be about re-founding Ice Cream to create a world-leading, stand-alone business with greater flexibility and autonomy,” said Mudaly.

“This will enable us to focus, move with pace, and foster closer collaborations with our customers to deliver market-leading availability, category growth, and perfect execution. I’m really looking forward to leading the New Zealand business through this exciting new chapter.”

Unilever’s split of Ice Cream is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Ice Cream will be separated through demerger, with the business listed in Amsterdam, London, and New York.