The head of Heineken has told the company of his intention to stand down at the end of May.
Dolf van den Brink, who took on the CEO position at the start of June 2020, will vacate the role on 31 May. His decision will bring an end to the 52-year-old’s 28-year career with Heineken.
The group has subsequently commenced a “search process to appoint a successor”.
“After six years as CEO and more than 28 years at Heineken, I believe this is the right moment to transition leadership as the company prepares for the next phase of the ‘EverGreen’ strategy,” van den Brink said. “The past years have been marked by significant change as Heineken progressed through its transformation and has now reached a stage where a transition in leadership will best serve the company in further executing its long-term ambitions.”
Supervisory board chair Peter Wennink added: “The supervisory board is grateful to Dolf for his leadership and long-standing commitment to Heineken, including … delivering on ‘EverGreen 2025’ while navigating a challenging external environment.
“With the launch of ‘EverGreen 2030’, … the next phase will focus on bringing this strategy to life … . With this in mind, the supervisory board agrees this is the right moment to start the succession process to secure strong leadership for the future.”
Joining Heineken in 1998 as a management trainee, van den Brink was based in Amsterdam until mid-2005 when he moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo to spend four years as commercial director with group subsidiary Bralima. Four years later he headed to the US to lead operations in the country before moving south of the border to become CEO of Heineken Mexico in 2015, until 2018. His final role before assuming the top seat was as regional president for Asia Pacific from late 2018 until May 2020.
Van den Brink’s predecessor as CEO, Jean-François van Boxmeer, held the reins for 15 years.
