Royal Agrifirm Group has named Piet Hilarides as its new CEO, effective December 1. Hilarides will succeed Dick Hordijk who, as previously announced, will resign on January 1, 2025, after eight years as CEO.
Hilarides is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of national and international experience in cooperative and non-cooperative environments in the agriculture and food industries, making him a suitable CEO to lead Royal Agrifirm Group through the next period of its strategic plan, the company said in a press release.
Together with Stefan Bulthuis as chief financial officer (CFO), members of the global leadership team and every employee, Hilarides will continue the efforts to build a “responsible food chain for future generations,” the company said.
“Given Piet’s experience with cooperatives, we are confident that he will connect well with our members and customers to achieve this, putting the perspective of the farmers and the sector first,” the press release said. “We would like to thank Dick once again for everything he has done and contributed over the past eight years and to wish Piet every success as he embarks on his role as the new CEO.”
Hilarides’ background
After completing his studies in business administration and business economics, Hilarides started his career as an account manager with PepsiCo. He then continued his career with FrieslandCampina, where he spent 23 years in commercial roles, first of all, within various parts of what was then Campina and later in general positions such as business group director of the cheese, butter and milk powder division. After the merger between Campina and Friesland Foods, he spent the past 10 years with Royal FrieslandCampina in charge of two business groups, namely the cheese, butter and milk powder group and later, in Singapore, the Asia business group. He was also a member of the executive board of Royal FrieslandCampina during those periods.
After a short spell as a senior adviser for Accenture, he was responsible for Perfetti Van Melle’s Asian business group as APAC president from Singapore. His most recent position was as CEO of Baladna, a listed dairy company in Qatar.
