FDBusiness.com

The board of Royal FrieslandCampina intends to appoint Roelof Joosten as chief executive of the international dairy group with effect from 1 June 2015. Roelof Joosten will succeed Cees ’t Hart, who has accepted a new position as president and chief executive of Carlsberg Group in Denmark.

Roelof Joosten (b. 1958) has been a member of the FrieslandCampina executive board since 2012; he currently serves as chief operating officer of the FrieslandCampina Ingredients business group. Roelof Joosten joined the company in 2004. Prior to being appointed to the executive board, he served as managing director of operating company FrieslandCampina Domo, which specialises in the production of infant nutrition and related ingredients. Between 1998 and 2004, he worked for Quest International (ICI), ending his term there as regional vice president Europe.

Roelof Joosten.

Cees ’t Hart has been chief executive of Royal FrieslandCampina since 1 January 2009. He was appointed chairman of the board of Royal Friesland Foods on 1 May 2008, and steered the company through a merger with Campina at the end of December 2008. Cees ’t Hart oversaw the successful integration of the two dairy companies and co-operatives, and more recently devised and managed the roll-out of the group’s route2020 strategy. Under his leadership, revenue has increased from Eur8.2 to Eur11.4 billion. FrieslandCampina achieved substantial organic growth in Asia, particularly in China and Hong Kong. In the Philippines it acquired Alaska Milk Corporation. In Europe, the company took over a number of cheese companies.

Since 2009, FrieslandCampina has invested nearly Eur1.9 billion (of which approximately 70% in the Netherlands) to expand capacity and further improve quality in preparation for the abolition of the EU milk quota for dairy farmers in April 2015.

Piet Boer, chairman of the supervisory board of Royal FrieslandCampina, says: “We are immensely indebted to Cees ’t Hart for his dedication and commitment over the past seven years and regret to see him go. In Roelof Joosten, however, we have an excellent and experienced successor ready to take up the reins from within the organisation. With this in mind, the supervisory board is confident that the strategy of growth and value creation the company is pursuing can be continued successfully. Roelof Joosten knows FrieslandCampina through and through, having most recently led the expansion of our ingredients activities.”