Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina has announced that the co-op’s current chief executive, Roelof Joosten, will resign his position at the end of the year. The dairy co-op has appointed Hein Schumacher as the man to take charge of the group from the 1 January 2018.

Schumacher has served as chief financial officer with Friesland Campina since 2015 and has previously held senior management roles with Heinz in the US, Netherlands, UK and China.

Under Joosten’s leadership, FrieslandCampina has grown to a company with global sales of more than €11bn and annual profits of €360m. The co-op collects almost 10.5bn litres of milk every year from its farmer suppliers, with much of this processed into high-value dairy ingredients and infant formula.

Friesland Campina chair

Friesland Campina chair Frans Keurentjes thanked Joosten for his time in charge of the co-op, saying he had “strongly developed” the businesses infant formula sales channel in China.

“As chief operating officer of FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Roelof envisaged unprecedented possibilities for the valorisation of whey, which today is an important ingredient of, among others, infant nutrition. We are really grateful to him for his many years of commitment, involvement and results orientation,” said Keurentjes.

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