Heineken’s Van den Brink to step down as CEO

Dutch brewer Heineken said on Monday (Jan 12) its chief executive officer (CEO) Dolf van den Brink will step down on May 31, after nearly six years of leading the company.

Van den Brink, who took the helm at the world’s No 2 beer maker in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020, agreed to remain available to Heineken as an advisor for eight months, the group added.

He is also the chairman of the company’s executive board.

The board will now initiate a search to appoint a successor to lead Heineken, which makes its namesake lager alongside Tiger and Amstel, the company’s statement said.

Van den Brink and the chairman of the supervisory board, Peter Wennink, said that now was the right moment for Heineken to appoint new leadership. The company set a new strategy covering the years until 2030 in October.

Heineken has “reached a stage where a transition in leadership will best serve the company in further executing its long-term ambitions”, Van den Brink said in the statement, adding that he remains fully focused on executing that strategy until his departure.

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Beer sales falling

He is the latest in a string of consumer company CEOs to depart, after a difficult few years for the sector, as consumer finances came under the strain from high costs of living.

Brewers have struggled to sell more beer, with hopes of a sales revival repeatedly knocked off course by everything – from bad weather to political uncertainty.

Heineken has also faced a series of disruptions in key growth markets such as Nigeria and Vietnam, which have weighed on results.

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Heineken is expected to make strategic update in October, and changes include focusing on certain brands and markets. Investors have welcomed this, but some said that the company needs to prove it can deliver.

Van den Brink arrived “with high expectations, but Heineken has not delivered on them”, said analyst James Edwardes Jones, from RBC Capital Markets, a global investment bank.

“Perhaps this change at the top is what Heineken needs,” he added.

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