Dilger will take over the role previously occupied by James Osborne, who died in August.
Dilger was Larry Goodman’s right-hand man, and stayed with Food Industries when Greencore bought it following Larry’s financial difficulties in the 1990s. Having climbed his way to chief executive of his new group, Dilger proceeded to shut down the Irish sugar sector, having sold all ancillary companies – Grassland Fertilizers, Erin Foods, Interchem and Armer Salmon. Greencore also halved the size of its malt company, Minch, before selling it to Boortmalt/Axereal in 2010.
Meanwhile, Dilger grew the convenience food business that led Greencore to its current position as one of the world’s leading sandwich manufacturers.
Dilger retired from Greencore in his early 50s in 2008 with a reported pension pot of €13.5m. He has since held board positions including chair of Dublin Airport Authority and director of Bank of Ireland.