Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina has announced that Hein Schumacher will succeed Roelof Joosten as CEO of the company in the new year.

The Supervisory Board of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. announced the intention to appoint Hein Schumacher Chief Executive Officer from January 1, 2018. Hein Schumacher will succeed Roelof Joosten, who will resign as CEO.

Hein Schumacher became a member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company on January 1, 2015. Previous to this, he worked – among others – at Heinz in both financial and general management positions in the Netherlands, the US, the UK and China.

Frans Keurentjes, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of FrieslandCampina, commented on the appointment, saying: “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 (COO) of FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Roelof envisaged unprecedented possibilities for the valorisation of whey, which today is an important ingredient of, among others, infant nutrition.

“We are really grateful to him for his many years of commitment, involvement and results orientation.

FrieslandCampina enters a new phase in which we will give priority to quick and adequate response to market developments.

“With Hein Schumacher we have a skilled leader. His 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,” he said.

About FrieslandCampina

FrieslandCampina was formed from a merger between Royal Friesland Foods and Campina in December 2008. It is a Dutch dairy co-operative with 18,900 member dairy farmers from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, making it one of the world’s largest dairy co-operatives.

The company’s revenues for the first half of 2017 came in at €6.1 billion, which was up 10.7%. The dairy giant has branch offices in 33 countries and employs 22,000 people.