Mead Johnson China quietly changes its leader, with McLaughlin arriving in China

The General Manager of Mead Johnson's China Branch was recently quietly replaced. The new GM who takes over from the Hong Kong-based GM, Ricky Lee, is Matthew Chapple (Mai Jiehua) from Sydney, Australia. A relevant person from Mead Johnson Nutrition (China) Co., Ltd. stated that the company has not yet officially announced the news, but the new GM will soon make a public appearance at the 15th anniversary celebration of Mead Johnson China.

The newly appointed GM for Mead Johnson China, Matthew Chapple, joined the company in January 2006 as the General Manager of the Thailand branch and was suddenly notified in November 2007 to transfer to China and was entrusted with important responsibilities. Chapple graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 1991 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing and then joined Arnott’s Biscuits Company (under Campbell Soup Company), initially engaging in marketing work.

During his 16 years with Campbell Soup Company, Chapple worked in six countries and regions including Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, and served as the General Manager of the Malaysia and Singapore branches of Campbell Soup Company. While working in the U.S., Chapple obtained an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania.

Chapple's predecessor was Ricky Lee, a Hong Kong native, who had worked at Mead Johnson for nine years. Last year, he announced that he would leave this infant nutrition products company to become the President of Cadbury Greater China. An insider from Mead Johnson China told reporters that Cadbury is also a well-known multinational company, and the company congratulates Ricky Lee on his new role.

At the age of 38, Chapple has lived and worked in 17 countries and regions, accumulating rich market experience. Therefore, despite only being with Mead Johnson for two years, Chapple is highly anticipated. According to insiders from Mead Johnson, Chapple is passionate and has very innovative ideas. In the two months since he took up his new position, he has been tirelessly traveling to more than a dozen cities where Mead Johnson's nutritional products are popular for on-site research.

Mead Johnson's movements in China have attracted much attention. Recently, there were reports that Mead Johnson's parent company, the American biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, is tentatively contacting food giants such as PepsiCo, Nestle, Danone, Kraft, Heinz, and pharmaceutical giants such as Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, planning to sell its non-core business, Mead Johnson, in order to focus more on the global biopharmaceutical field. It is reported that Bristol-Myers Squibb values Mead Johnson between $7 billion to $9 billion.

Although the divestiture is still in the exploratory stage, the future ownership of the Mead Johnson company, including its China branch, and the resulting corporate strategic positioning issues are closely watched by the market. In addition, there is much work ahead for the new GM of the China branch: such as how to familiarize himself with the unfamiliar Chinese infant nutrition products market in the shortest time possible? In this rapidly rising quick consumer goods country with the most astonishing growth rate, can Mead Johnson take the lead and maintain its leading position against the aggressive competition? (Reported by Huang Mengzhen) [Editor-in-Chief: cyliaxi]