The Estée Lauder Companies has hired a new chief procurement officer, the cosmetics giant announced last week.
Stepping into the role is Quentin Roach, who most recently was food manufacturer Mondelēz International’s procurement chief and SVP for global supply chain.
Roach will report to Roberto Canevari, Estée Lauder’s EVP for global supply chain, and serve as part of the company’s Global Supply Chain Leadership Team.
In the role, Roach will oversee Estée Lauder’s strategic supplier relationships and “enhance end-to-end synchronization across the company’s supplier network to help accelerate innovation, growth and joint value creation,” the company said.
The new chief procurement officer will also be tasked with raising the enterprise value of purchased goods and services from suppliers “to deepen ELC's commitment to quality, business continuity, and responsiveness,” the company noted.
Estée Lauder primarily procures essential oils, alcohols and specialty chemicals as its raw material base, along with packaging components, according to its latest 10-K.
It reviews its supplier base regularly with an toward quality, innovation, speed-to-market and cutting costs. It also focuses sourcing on regional manufacturing hubs to boost efficiency, and to reduce lead times and emissions, the company also noted.
As CPO, Roach will also oversee the integration Estée Lauder’s internal and external manufacturing networks into a single ecosystem while helping with “research and analysis of new supply base channels, potential technological innovations, cross-enterprise supplier and product standardization, expanded partnerships and process improvements,” the company said in its announcement.
Additionally, Roach will “place a strong focus” on accelerating the company’s responsible sourcing and diverse supplier initiatives, Estée Lauder said.
The company more than doubled its spending with Black-owned business between 2020 and 2022, with $43 million in spend with Black suppliers last year. The company also spent $118 million on women-owned businesses and $402 million total on diverse and small suppliers, according to the company’s latest corporate responsibility report.
Roach’s appointment to the CPO spot became effective as of the announcement on Sept. 5. He replaces Roberto Magana, who left in July to become chief procurement officer at manufacturing company Kimberly-Clark, according to his LinkedIn profile and a social media post by Kimberly-Clark.
Prior to serving at Estée Lauder and Mondelēz International, Roach also held leadership roles in supply chain and procurement at Merck & Co., Bristol Myers Squibb, Bausch + Lomb and General Motors.
