LOCHEM, THE NETHERLANDS — The supervisory board of ForFarmers NV has nominated Chris Deen as a member of the organization’s executive board. Once appointed, Deen will become chief executive officer. ForFarmers will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in June, with Deen’s tenure expected to start on July 1.

Deen will succeed Yoram Knoop, who stepped down as CEO following the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders on April 14. Roeland Tjebbes, currently chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO until Deen takes over in July.

Deen is currently CEO of Aviko, one of the four largest potato processors in the world and subsidiary of cooperative Royal Cosun. He started in this position at the beginning of 2020. Prior to Aviko he was chief operating officer and integration director at Euroma. Earlier, he was CFO and CEO of Bakkersland. He also had a lengthy career at Sara Lee/Douwe Egberts, where he held various roles, including CFO of Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems in the Netherlands and general manager of Sara Lee International Foodservice Iberia (Barcelona, Spain).

He received a degree in business economics and information management at Amsterdam University and attained a postgraduate degree as chartered accountant.

“We are pleased to nominate Chris Deen as CEO,” said Jan van Nieuwenhuizen, chairman of the supervisory board of For Farmers. “His broad and international experience in the food sector is characterized by initiating and implementing successful transformations within leading companies in quickly changing and challenging markets. He has an engaging and decisive personality. We are of the opinion that he fits well with the other members of the executive board and the executive team and that he has the skills and experience to positively influence the development of ForFarmers.”