Senior appointments at Valeo Foods and Aryzta

Ronald Kers joins Valeo Foods

Former 2 Sisters Food Group chief executive Ronald Kers has been appointed group chief executive of Valeo Foods.

Kers brings a wealth of industry experience to the role, having proven himself as a leader within both Muller Group and most recently 2 Sisters, where he has spent the last five years in charge.

Commenting on Kers’ appointment, Nigel Walder of Valeo owner Bain Capital, said: “In his time at both groups Ronald has developed a uniquely broad set of capabilities that span category, geography, and a deep operational skillset, which position him incredibly well to drive the next stage of Valeo Foods’ evolution.”

He succeeds Seamus Kearney, following his decision to step back from a day-to-day leadership role within the business.

Kearney has served as chief executive for Valeo for more than 11 years, during which he has overseen a period of massive change for the business that saw significant growth into the Europe.

Valeo’s board conveyed its gratitude to Seamus for his service to the business and looked forward to his ongoing contributions to the continued growth and development of the group as a member of the Board of Directors.

“Whilst my role is evolving in the business, I remain incredibly passionate and excited about the future for Valeo Foods and I look forward to supporting Ronald and the Bain Capital team in a different capacity and as a long-term committed shareholder,” said Kearney.

New head of NPD at Aryzta

International bakery company Aryzta has appointed Hannah Sibley as product and innovation director of its UK and Ireland business.

Based at the company’s state of the art Centre of Excellence in Dublin, Hannah will play a pivotal role in “strengthening and accelerating” Aryzta’s new product development pipeline.

She joins the firm from the GB Business Unit of Grupo Bimbo, where most recently she was Head of NPD and Innovation.

“Hannah brings a wealth of experience and a finely tuned insight into the very latest global bakery trends which will enable us to add even more value to our grocery, retail convenience and foodservice partnerships,” said Nigel Scully, chief commercial officer at Aryzta UK & Ireland.

A member of the British Society of Baking, Hannah has over 18 years bakery experience, starting her career on Nature’s Way Foods’ graduate programme before progressing on to in-store bakery roles with two leading UK supermarket groups and at Winterbotham Darby in a senior NPD role.

“Aryzta is renowned for its innovative approach to product development and is very well placed to enable retailers to meet growing consumer demand for new taste experiences across multiple bakery categories. I’m looking forward to using my passion for bakery to help bring category-boosting new speciality breads and other complementary products to market,” Hannah added.