Haleon appoints new chief R&D officer
Haleon has appointed Carl Haney as its new chief R&D officer, taking over the role from Franck Riot who has been with the company for six years.
Haney will join Haleon on August 1, 2025.
He joins Haleon from the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. where he has spent 13 years as executive vice president, Global Innovation and Research and Development.
He has also spent over 20 years at P&G across Home, Health and Beauty Care.
“Carl is a world-renowned leader in R&D, with significant experience of driving transformative innovation within global consumer businesses.
“He will be an excellent addition to our executive team as we look to build on the strong foundations we have built in recent years and unlock Haleon’s significant potential through our new Win as One strategy,” said Haleon CEO Brian McNamara.
Riot previously spoke with NutraIngredients-Asia on the “Behind the Big Story” video series on Haleon’s vision and strategies in achieving breakthroughs in nutraceutical innovations.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Franck for his significant contribution to Haleon over the last six years. He has played an important role in the lead up to and beyond separation to move our innovation agenda forward and prepare us for the next phase of our journey. On behalf of everyone at Haleon, I wish him the very best for the future.”
New CEO at Comvita
New Zealand-headquartered manuka honey maker Comvita Limited has appointed Karl Gradon as its new CEO.
According to Comvita, Gradon will officially join the company on August 1, 2025.
He will taking over from acting CEO Brett Hewlett, who assumed the role last September.
Gradon is currently the managing director at Seedling Advisors, where he is advisor to boards and executive teams to enable high growth and innovation-led consumer export strategies and M&A, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He is however, not a stranger to the manuka honey industry.
He previously had a nearly three year stint as the CEO of New Zealand Manuka Group.
Prior to that, he was the general manager at Kerry Ingredients based out of Singapore.
He was also with Fonterra for 14 years, with his last role as the strategy manager of Fonterra South East Asia.
“After his offshore career, Karl returned to New Zealand as CEO of New Zealand Manuka Group where he was responsible for their high growth strategy of manuka oil and honey products and launch into North America, including listing into Costco.
“Most recently Karl has been CEO of Miraka, the Taupo based, low carbon, Māori-owned dairy company where he successfully led a significant business transformation.
“His expertise in innovation, sustainable growth, and international market expansions aligns with Comvita’s strategic objectives,” said Comvita in a New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) filing.
Hewlett will remain with Comvita in an advisory capacity through to the end of September to ensure a smooth transition and to support ongoing strategic initiatives.
Unilever-backed Wellbeing Nutrition appoints new COO
Unilever-backed Indian health and wellness firm Wellbeing Nutrition has appointed Arvind Shukla as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Arvind has assumed the role from June 2025 and is in charge of the international business, retail, expert, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) segments.
Arvind joins Wellbeing Nutrition from his prior role as Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ executive director and board member, Dr. Reddy’s and Nestle Health Sciences.
He was with the company for 6.5 years, where he led a cross functional nutrition business team comprising of marketing, sales, R&D, regulatory, medical affairs, nutrition science, business development, and supply chain etc.
He also worked for MNCs like GSK Consumer Healthcare India, taking care of its digestive health, foods, and vitamin mineral supplements marketing in the India subcontinent.
Other MNCs he has worked for include Mead Johnson Nutrition, where he was the marketing director for 3.5 years, and vice-president and head at PepsiCo-Tata’s NourishCo Beverage.
His other notable role was with Dabur India, where one of his roles was the category head of its real fruit beverages portfolio.
Sabinsa Australia welcomes new GM
Sabinsa has appointed Claire Briggs, former senior technical manager at Blackmores Institute, as the general manager of its Australia New Zealand (ANZ) team.
Briggs, who joined in April 2025, is in charge of leading new product development, navigating critical regulatory affairs opportunities, and driving business growth across the complementary medicine, functional foods, and sports nutrition markets, said the company.
Briggs was previously with Blackmores Institute for nearly seven years, where she managed global research and clinical trials, including a two-year tenure based in Singapore.
Briggs had previously collaborated with Sabinsa during her role managing product development and regulatory affairs at two of Global Therapeutics’ brands - namely Fusion Health and Oriental Botanicals.
“During this time, she successfully introduced ten Sabinsa products to the Australian market—propelling the company to become Sabinsa ANZ’s top revenue-generating customer.
“Claire also worked with Biomedica, a practitioner-only brand utilising Sabinsa products, where she led brand development, innovation, formulation, and regulatory compliance,” said Sabinsa in a press release.
“We are delighted to welcome Claire to our team. Her extensive experience and regulatory expertise will be a key differentiator in the markets we serve, driving innovation and business growth,” said Jon Tilyard, Director, Sabinsa ANZ.
