Unilever marketing executive Cees ‘t Hart has been lined up to run Friesland Foods and Campina when the two Dutch dairy giants merge later this year.
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Friesland Foods has named ‘t Hart as its CEO and said today (24 January) that he is “envisaged” to take the top job at Friesland Campina.
The two dairy co-operatives are drawing up a merger agreement to present to their farmer members after announcing plans to combine last month.
‘t Hart has spent almost 24 years at Unilever, where he is senior vice president for marketing operations for the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate. The 49-year-old is set to take the helm at Friesland Foods on 1 May.
Friesland Foods chairman Sybren Attema said: “We are convinced that, with the intended appointment of ’t Hart, we have found an excellent candidate for the position of CEO, initially of Friesland Foods and, if the merger with Campina goes ahead, of Friesland Campina.”
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By GlobalDataThe combined turnover of Friesland and Campina, which have 17,700 farmer members between them, stands at EUR8.3bn (US$12bn).
Industry watchers have predicted consolidation in the dairy sector as commodity costs have soared in the last 12 months.
Last October, two of the UK’s leading dairy co-operatives, First Milk and Milk Link, announced they were looking to merge.
