Danone restructures senior management
management as it continues to refocus its operations towards being
a leading player in health and nutrition.
The announcement, which comes on the back of strong first half results for the company, reflects the growing significance for food and beverage groups in adapting to increased market demand for healthy and nutritious foods.
The company said it will create a strategic committee from 1 January next year to allow for the smooth incorporation of recently acquired nutrition group Numico into its operations.
Establishing the committee will allow the enlarged company to better set out its future growth strategies, Danone said.
As part of the shift, Danone will also appoint two co-chief operating officers who will split responsibility for the company's operations.
Emmanuel Faber, currently executive vice president for the companies Asia Pacific operations will take responsibility for corporate affairs including human resources, social responsibility and innovation.
Bernard Hours, executive vice president for Danone's fresh dairy segment, will oversee dairy, water, and beverage production for the group, and its expanded presence in the nutrition and baby food segment.
Along with the management changes, the company said that its shift towards becoming a nutrition group would also require reorganization of its governing bodies.
As such, the company will also establish a new twelve member executive committee to designate the future direction for the group's ambitions.
Once the acquisition of Numico is complete, Danone will also commence a transition committee for baby food and clinical nutrition, during the first six months of the takeover.
The transition group will aim to ensure the new segment is incorporated successfully into the overall structure of Danone for the strongest possible performance, the company said.
Responsibility for the group will be shared between Bernard Hours and Christian Neu, executive vice president of the baby food segment.