Roberto Canevari, Estée Lauder: “For a company to win, you must remove the silos”

Roberto Canevari is no stranger to luxury goods having previously worked for the Burberry Group. He is renowned for being a collaborative and inspirational leader, and is also a member of The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) Executive Leadership Team. As a ‘people person’ he sees people as the ‘multiplier’ that give the company its competitive advantage. By engaging with and motivating his team he aims to maximise their commitment and is learning all the time from the younger generation.

Roberto Canevari was appointed Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain, for ELC Inc. in 2021. Based at the company’s global headquarters in New York, he oversees its Global Supply Chain operations, including end-to-end procurement, manufacturing, planning, quality assurance and logistics across all channels and geographies for its 25+ brands. Besides Estée Lauder’s flagship range, its portfolio of prestige makeup, skin care, fragrance and hair care products includes brands such as Clinique, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and M·A·C.

Martijn Lofvers caught up with him in Antwerp – nearby ELC’s Oevel manufacturing and distribution campus – where they discussed talent management, reverse mentoring, TikTok, scholarship programs as well as the daily challenges of synchronising ecosystems.

You’re here in Europe. With the huge growth in Asia, is Europe still an important market for The Estée Lauder Companies? And from a global perspective, what are the main challenges today?

“Europe is a big region, driving strong business so it remains a relevant and very key region for us for both demand and supply. We are very strong in many areas here and business continues to grow. We have key sites, operations, distribution and, last but not least, people here to do the job.

Like many companies, we face a variety of challenges doing business in a global ecosystem. Currently we have three main priorities: resilience; synchronization of the ecosystem, in particular of supply and demand; and responsiveness. It’s not just about bringing product to the market faster but being able to quickly adapt to a new trend or disruption. … … …

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