Canada-based food group SunOpta has named president and COO Rik Jacobs as its new CEO in a bid to "accelerate growth and performance".

Jacobs will take the job in October, replacing Steve Bromley, who will become SunOpta's vice chair after eight years at the helm.

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SunOpta said Jacobs, who joined the business in 2012, had been a "key architect" in the company's moves to focus on core assets. In recent years, SunOpta has looked to focus more on natural and organic food, selling off other assets.

SunOpta chair Alan Murray said: "The time for succession is right as our focus increasingly turns to execution and accelerated performance. Rik is a dynamic leader who has done an incredible job transforming the structure, talent and processes necessary to support SunOpta's solid strategic foundation. He has tremendous global food industry expertise, knows SunOpta deeply, and is a leader who we are confident will accelerate growth and performance."

Murray said Bromley had "created the strategic foundation in place today and made great strides in repositioning the business and SunOpta's core assets in growing segments and categories".

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For his part, Bromley, who first joined the business in 2001, added: ""I am proud of what we have accomplished at SunOpta, including refocusing our business on core growing segments, disposing of non-core assets, and creating competitive advantage through our global operating platform. As our focus increasingly shifts to executing against our strategic foundation, the timing is right to transition to Rik's leadership, and I am looking forward to supporting him and the board in that transition and on continued corporate development activity as the year unfolds."

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