Havaianas Parent Company Alpargatas Taps Liel Miranda as New CEO

Alpargatas S.A., the Brazilian footwear company behind Havaianas, named Liel Miranda as its next CEO late last month.

According to the company, Miranda will assume the role on Feb. 1 and will succeed interim CEO Luiz Fernando Edmond, who will continue to serve as a member of Alpargatas’ board of directors after the transition.

As CEO, Miranda will play a key role in the transformation process that began in 2023, Alpargatas said in a press release. The company added that he’s set to focus on simplification and efficiency, as well as leading the company in executing its new strategies, combining the resumption of sustainable growth with operational excellence.

Miranda joins Alpargatas from snack food company Mondelēz International, where he served as president of the company’s Brazilian business unit since 2019. Prior to Mondelēz, Miranda spent the majority of his career at Brazilian tobacco company Souza Cruz, where he started as a trainee in 1992 and spent the next 27 years rising through the ranks. He became president of Souza Cruz in 2017 and served in the role until his move to Mondelēz.

The executive joins at a time when the company is seeking to transform its business amid lagging sales. In November, Alpargatas reported net sales dipped 17.8 percent in the third quarter to 896.2 million Brazilian Real (182.22 million), down from 1.089 billion Brazilian Real ($220 million) the same quarter last year.

“The third quarter of 2023 allowed us to move forward on several fronts of our extensive transformation agenda and brought us some of the first signs that we considered relevant to confirm our diagnoses, as well as the priorities we chose to restore our profitability,” the company said in its third quarter earnings release in November. “We know that the journey is long and will bring several challenges ahead, but we also know that each small step forward is essential for overall success.”

“Throughout this quarter, especially, we have begun to see improvements in some of the market and operational dynamics that we widely discussed in the previous quarter, which the solution we consider to be crucial as we head toward this journey,” the company added.

Established in 1907, Alpargatas S.A is one of the largest Brazilian companies in the footwear business. Aside from Havaianas, the company owns Ioasys, an innovation and technology company. And in 2021, the company added Rothy’s to its portfolio after purchasing a 49 percent stake in the American sustainable footwear brand.