The High Churn of FMCG CEO’s in 2026
By Dr. Staffan Canback, Tellusant, Inc. | 2026-10-09
I noticed, when I updated my LI follower list, that there has been an incredible churn of CEOs at large FMCG companies over the last year. Why is that?
Are FMCG companies experiencing a leadership crisis, or is what appears to be a leadership crisis fundamentally a strategic decision-quality crisis?
I have 3 hypotheses:
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FMCG is not doing well in general. This conforms with Engel’s Law from 1857 that FMCG cannot grow with the economy at large. FMCG will be an ever shrinking part of the household wallet.
Not much can be done about this except diversification based on Theory Z (FEMSA being an example of success in this). Global expansion is a hard slog since there are established players in most parts of the world. Not impossible, requires precision.
Tellusant will benefit from this since we have lived with such issues for decades. -
AI requires new skills. Leadership is shifting toward tech-literate executives who can manage automated, algorithm-driven business models rather than traditional brand equity and legacy marketing spend. I posted a year ago that this will impact boards of directors (who largely know nothing about AI), but it extends to CEOs and leadership teams.
One comment I hear is “we have really smart data scientists”. That may be in the FMCG executive’s eyes, but in comparison to the universe of data scientists it is usually not true.
This skill shift is to Tellusant’s advantage. We will have easier dialogues in future with senior leaders. -
Portfolios and brands are changing. Scale economies are important but most companies already have them. For many consumers, billion dollar brands and not attractive and more precision is required in brand prioritization.
We see this in our prediction models playing out on a global scale. Power brands are important, but specialized brands are often the winners. In essence, the Herfindahl concentration index is declining when measured carefully.
Tellusant has a strong future in helping companies decide on these priorities.
To verify, I asked ChatGPT if my high churn observation is correct. It said yes: FMCG-specific reporting also suggests that approximately 15 of the 50 largest consumer-products companies changed CEOs. This is the highest number of consumer CEO departures since tracking started in 2018, and the highest sectoral churn. See also Consumers Cut Back, CEOs Depart, and Boards Act
Separately, I researched leadership team compositions. The team members’ educations and career evolutions also suggest why the change is happening. See The Fabric of Executive Teams
Fortunately, a company is not THE COMPANY anymore. It is the entire network of capabilities, including professional services firms and other advisors. Managing this is in many ways the most important task. See my piece The Nexus Organization: The 4th Wave of Corporate Structure