HBA Announces Former Unilever Exec as Keynote Speaker

The 12th annual Health & Beauty America (HBA), organized by CMP Princeton, will be held Sept. 28-30, 2004 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. CMP announced that Charles B. Strauss, who formerly served as Unilever president/chief executive officer of U.S., director of Unilever plc and chairman of its North America committee, will deliver the keynote address at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

During his 18 years at Unilever, Mr. Strauss was responsible for the development and growth of Dove, Lux, Pond’s and Suave. Previously, Mr. Strauss served with Ragu Foods as president and chief executive officer, which was then acquired by Unilever in 1986. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Langnese-Iglo GmbH in Germany from 1989-1992. He was then appointed president and chief executive officer of Lever Brothers Co., New York and was group president of Unilever Latin America.

Mr. Strauss also held posts as vice chairman of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA) and as a member of the board of directors of the International Mass Retail Association (IMRA).

At HBA, more than 575 companies will exhibit over 140,000 square feet of space, and will be visited by more than 16,000 marketing and product development professionals, CMP Princeton said. HBA will also add a larger conference program with more educational sessions than last year, a one-day conference called “Inside Beauty” and new sessions for the Product Development conference.

The third annual HBA Industry awards dinner will also take place on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at the New York Hilton. More info: (609) 452-2800, ext. 228; Website: www.hbaexpo.com.