Downers Grove / IL. (slc) Sara Lee Corporation announced that it has appointed Michiel Herkemij as executive vice president and chief executive officer of its International Beverage business. He will also serve as chief executive officer of «CoffeeCo» once it is spun-off from Sara Lee Corporation. in the first half of calendar 2012. Herkemij will start his new duties no later than December 01, 2011 and the company will conduct the customary consultations with works councils regarding his appointment.
Herkemij, 47, joins Sara Lee from Heineken N.V., one of the world´s leading beer companies. He currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma – a leading beer manufacturer in Mexico with six breweries and 18’000 employees, acquired by Heineken in 2010. Previously, he was chief executive officer of Heineken´s Nigerian subsidiary, a publicly-listed company. Prior to Heineken, he held multiple managerial positions with Royal Friesland Campina N.V., a leading dairy company, where he worked in the Benelux region, China and Nigeria. He began his business career with British American Tobacco in the United Kingdom and Iberia (Spain and Portugal) and ABN Amro Bank N.V.
Jan Bennink, Sara Lee´s executive chairman, said that the board selected Herkemij based on his track record of leading complex international organizations, his breadth of experience across multiple consumer goods businesses and his unique perspective, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities.
«We are very excited to have Michiel serve as the leader of our CoffeeCo business», said Bennink. «He is the right leader to bring ‘CoffeeCo’ to new heights and unleash the company´s true potential due to his extensive international experience in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, his proven ability to manage top-performing teams, and his very strong marketing and sales background».
«I believe the CoffeeCo business, with its premier brands and thousands of professionals, is a strong business with tremendous potential», said Herkemij. «I look forward to working with this great coffee and tea team as, together, we build the global agenda for the future and work to create great value for our stockholders».
Herkemij succeeds Frank van Oers, a 16-year company veteran who has been heading the International Beverage and Bakery segment since 2005. Van Oers, 52, will leave Sara Lee Corporation in early calendar year 2012.
«We thank Frank van Oers for his many contributions to the International Beverage and Bakery business», added Bennink. «Under Frank´s leadership, we increased operational efficiencies, expanded our coffee and tea business into key geographies and made great progress in preparing for the upcoming spin-off of CoffeeCo into a successful publicly traded company».
