South Africa-based poultry major Astral Foods’ CEO Chris Schutte has announced his retirement after being at the helm of the business for the past 16 years.
In a statement issued today (8 August), Johannesburg Stock exchange-listed Astral said Schutte will be stepping down on 25 January after the company’s board accepted his request.
Astral Foods said a formal replacement process has been initiated and a further announcement will be made once it has been completed.
Schutte has overseen the business in good times and bad, including what it described as “the lowest point in Astral Foods’ proud history” in 2023, as the company battled multiple headwinds.
A “devastating” year saw it buffeted by power outages, or load-shedding, bird flu and high feed costs.
It recorded an annual loss of R512.2m (then $27.8m) for the 12 months to the end of September 2023 but since then Schutte and his executive team have instigated a turnaround strategy, which appears to be bearing fruit.
In its statement today, Astral said: “Following the worst financial period in the group’s history for the year ended 30 September 2023, Astral is currently in a solid and healthy financial position. This is due to the successful implementation of a focused turnaround strategy in the 2024 financial year.”
Commenting on Schutte’s retirement, Dr. Theuns Eloff, non-executive chairman of Astral, said: “Although we are saddened by Chris’s decision, we respect his request for retirement with the utmost understanding and sympathy for his personal and family circumstances.
“Chris has been a poultry man for 41 years, steadfastly serving the South African poultry industry. Chris has been at the helm leading Astral for the past 16 years, at the same time achieving the recognition as one of the longest serving CEOs of a listed JSE company.
“Chris has a very special set of management and board skills, with a wealth of knowledge in the poultry industry.”
Schutte has agreed to provide strategic consultancy services to Astral from 1 February 2025 for a period of one year.
In the consultant role, he will focus on ensuring a smooth transition process with the incoming CEO, continue to facilitate key stakeholder engagement and provide strategic insight to the Astral executive team (Exco) and the board.
Schutte said: “I have always involved my Exco in our dealings with a myriad of stakeholders and this well-established team is highly experienced and regarded as best-in-industry.
“I am confident that I am handing over to a competent team who are willing and able to take the group forward in the next phase of Astral’s growth journey.”
The company’s recovery programme is centred on what the company describes as Project 3R - to re-set, re-focus and re-start the business.
Plans included maintaining emergency back-up generator capacity at all its operations to cope when state-run energy supplies cut out, as they have done regularly in recent times.
