After serving seven years as president and chief executive officer of McCain Foods, Dirk Van de Put is stepping down to assume the position of ceo at Mondelēz International. Max Koeune will replace him at the helm on November 1, while assuming the role of ceo-designate immediately.
Max Koeune has been tapped as the next president and ceo of McCain Foods.Koeune joined McCain Foods as chief financial officer in 2012 and has played a lead role in the development and delivery of a successful global growth and transformation strategy, driven both organically and through acquisitions.
“I want to thank Dirk for his outstanding leadership and dedication to McCain,” said Chairman Allison McCain on August 2. “He has proven himself to be a visionary leader over the past seven years – leading our journey to create the ‘new McCain’ and return this business to sustained profitable growth. As we celebrate our third consecutive record year, we all agree that it’s been a very successful journey, and one that I know will be continued by his successor.”
Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada-headquartered McCain Foods is an international leader in the frozen food industry and ranks among the world’s largest manufacturers of frozen potato products, employing approximately 20,000 people and operating 51 facilities on six continents that pack a myriad of products for restaurant operators, retail stores and industrial customers. Active in over 160 countries, the privately owned company generates annual sales in excess of $9 billion.
No. 1 in Snacks
Deerfield, Illinois, USA-headquartered Mondelēz International is regarded as the largest snack foods company in the world, with 2016 net revenues of approximately $26 billion. Among its major brands in the biscuits, chocolate, chewing gum, candy and beverage market segments are Oreo, belVita, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka chocolate and Trident gum.
Dirk Van de Put will have plenty to snack on after departing frozen food giant McCain Foods to become ceo of Mondelēz International.Pleased that Van de Put will soon join the Mondelēz team, Mark Kethum, lead independent director, commented: “We want to welcome Dirk and are excited to begin working with him to lead the company through its next chapter of growth. Our thorough, multi-year succession process has identified him as the right leader with a distinct combination of skills and industry experience necessary to succeed as our next ceo.”
Van de Put, who will succeed current Mondelēz CEO Irene Rosenfeld when she steps down this November, will also serve on the company’s board of directors. Rosenfeld will continue as chairman of the board until March 31, 2018, at which point she will retire and Van de Put will assume the role of chairman and ceo.
“The board and I are confident that Dirk Van de Put is the right leader to take us forward,” said Rosenfeld. “He is a seasoned global ceo, having lived and worked on three different continents, with deep experience and expertise in all critical business and commercial operations in both emerging and developed markets. Throughout his career, Dirk has had a proven track record of driving top-line and category growth, while at the same time improving cost structures and profitability. And he has achieved these results with a values-based leadership style and steadfast focus on people.”
Prior to joining McCain, Van de Put held executive positions with Novartis, Groupe Danone, The Coca-Cola Company and Mars, Incorporated. He graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Gent in Belgium and hold post-graduate degrees in marketing and management from the University of Antwerp. Van de Put is multilingual, fluent in English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
