Dairy giant FrieslandCampina has announced that Hein Schumacher will take the position of chief executive from 1 January next year, succeeding Roelof Joosten.
Schumacher has acted as the group’s chief financial officer since January 2015, when he was also elected to the executive board. He preciously held senior leadership positions with food giant Heinz in the Netherlands, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and China. He also previously worked for Ahold in Asia and Central America, and was a finance manager at Unilever.
Privileged Opportunity
“FrieslandCampina is one of the leading dairy companies in the world,” Schumacher commented. “It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to lead this wonderful company and to guide the organisation to the next phase.
“Quickly and adequately respond to questions and demands of consumers and clients wherever in the world is priority. With relevant and nutritional products produced in a transparent and sustainable way throughout the chain: from grass to glass. FrieslandCampina can do this like no other.’
Joosten's Role
Joosten, who will step down from the role, has been CEO since June 2015, and was appointed to the executive board, as chief operating officer, in 2012, with responsibility for the business group FrieslandCampina Ingredients. He has been with FrieslandCampina since 2004.
Commenting on Joosten’s time with the company, Frans Keurentjes, chairman of the supervisory board, said, “As CEO, Roelof initiated important changes with the update of the route2020 strategy and the recently announced simplification of the organisation. Additionally, the sales of our infant nutrition in China strongly developed under the leadership of Roelof. As Chief Operating Officer of FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Roelof envisaged unprecedented possibilities for the valorisation of whey, which today is an important ingredient of, among others, infant nutrition.”
Keurentjes also praised the appointment of Schumacher, whose “experience and vision will further strengthen our company both operationally and commercially and so generate more value for the member dairy farmers in a sustainable way”.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
