ForFarmers picks up new CEO from Aviko

Chris Deen will be the new CEO of feed group ForFarmers as of 1 July. Deen, currently CEO of French fries company Aviko, will succeed Yoram Knoop. The Supervisory Board has nominated Deen. An extraordinary general shareholders' meeting is convened to appoint the new CEO of ForFarmers.

ForFarmers announced this on Wednesday evening. The extraordinary meeting will take place sometime in June. Chris Deen (55) is currently CEO of Aviko, one of the four largest potato processors in the world and a subsidiary of the Royal Cosun cooperative. He started there at the beginning of 2020. Despite the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, ForFarmers explains, "he was able to give shape to his task of continuing Aviko's successful growth strategy by making the right choices at the right time."

The current CEO of ForFarmers, Yoram Knoop, will step down after tomorrow's general meeting of shareholders (April 14). In the period between 14 April and 1 July, Roeland Tjebbes will temporarily fulfill the CEO position in addition to his duties as CFO of ForFarmers. After Deen takes office as CEO, ForFarmers will also announce the outcome of its strategic reorientation.

From coffee, bakery products, herbs, fries to food
For Deen it will be his first job in the feed world. He has always worked in the food business so far. Chris Deen studied business economics and information management at the University of Amsterdam and is also trained as a chartered accountant. He started his career in 1991 at EY as an accountant and moved to Sara Lee/Douwe Egberts in 1996. Until 2010, he held various positions there, including CFO of Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems in the Netherlands and General Manager of Sara Lee International Foodservice Iberia (Barcelona, ​​Spain). At Bakkersland, at the time the largest bakery producer in the Netherlands, Chris Deen first held the position of CFO and subsequently the CEO position between 2012 and 2016. Prior to his time at Aviko, he was COO and Integration Director of Euroma (products based on herbs and spices). 

Jan van Nieuwenhuizen, chairman of the supervisory board of ForFarmers, said in the statement: 'We are delighted to be able to nominate Chris Deen as CEO. His broad, international experience in the food sector is characterized by driving successful change trajectories at leading companies in rapidly changing and challenging market conditions."

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