Greenyard, the Belgium-based fruit-and-veg group, is moving away from having two CEOs and promoting internally for its new chief executive.

The company today (18 December) named Francis Kint as its new CEO. Kint, the MD of Greenyard’s frozen division, will succeed the company’s co-CEOs Hein Deprez and Marc Zwaanveld, who have been in post since 2019.

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However, one of the two CEOs – founder Deprez – will remain an executive director on the listed company’s board. In that role, Deprez “will continue to oversee, build and drive the vision and strategic direction” of Greenyard, the group said in a statement.

It added: “This will ensure that the company can foster its current and future position as a pure-plant powerhouse, together with all key stakeholders to the company, both internally and externally.”

According to Greenyard’s 2022/23 annual report, Deprez Holding is the company’s largest single shareholder, owning just over 26% of the company.

Kint, joined Greenyard two years ago to head up its frozen-foods unit. His career includes six years as CEO at fresh-produce Univeg, which merged with Greenyard in 2015. Kint then spent two years as chief executive of meat group Vion and then three as CEO of Belgium-based ready-meals group What’s Cooking? before being hired by Greenyard.

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Koen Hoffman, Greenyard’s chairman, said: “Mr. Kint is the right man at the right place to accelerate the implementation of the strategic direction and to realise the full potential of Greenyard. “He held leadership positions in both the Fresh and Long Fresh segments, built expertise across the group, holds deep understanding of the fruit and vegetable industry, and gained valuable knowledge in both the foodservice and retail channels during his career.”

In Greenyard’s last full financial year, which ran to the end of March, the company generated sales of €4.69bn ($5.12bn), up 6.6% on 12 months earlier. The company booked a net result from continuing operations of €9.3m, versus €16.9m the year previous.

Last month, Greenyard reported a 9.5% rise in half-year sales to €2.52bn. The company’s net result from continuing operations stood at €7m, compared to €7.1m a year earlier.