Dutch meat giant Vion has revealed that Ronald Lotgerink is to leave local peer Zwanenberg Food Group to become its new CEO.

He will replace Francis Kint who announced at the end of last month that he was leaving his CEO role at Vion to take up the same position at Belgian food group Ter Beke.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

Lotgerink will become Vion’s CEO on 1 September. He began his career at Zwanenberg, a producer of canned meat and snacks, in June 1989 as financial director. In 2007 he was appointed as CEO. 

Zwanenberg chairman Aldo van der Laan said: “It is with great regret that we see Ronald leaving our company. Having said that we are happy for him that he is able to make a wonderful career move to one of the largest meat companies in Europe.

“Ronald has contributed greatly to the development of Zwanenberg Food Group over the last 28 years. He will be missed and we are grateful for his hard work.”

Lotgerink has been a member of the supervisory board of Vion since 2014. 

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Sipko Schat, the chairman of Vion’s supervisory board, said: “Vion and the agricultural sector and food industry are good acquaintances to Ronald. He is very much at home in the challenges of the international meat markets and has extensive experience with branded products, private labels and the meat processing industry.

“He has close ties with suppliers, customers and producers, and in our opinion is the perfect candidate.” 

Lotgerink said: “Vion has the right strategy to build a sustainable future in this industry and I want to continue and strengthen it.”

Vion has a turnover of EUR5.1bn (US$6.3bn).

Just Food Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Food Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Winning five categories in the 2025 Just Food Excellence Awards, Centric Software is setting the pace for digital transformation in food and FMCG. Explore how its integrated PLM and PXM suite delivers faster launches, smarter compliance and data-driven growth for complex, multi-channel product portfolios.

Discover the Impact