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For the first time in its 87-yr history as a public co, Heineken, the 2d largest global brewer, has named an outsider as its ceo. The board named Rafael (Rafa) Oliveira for 4 yrs starting Oct 1, 2026. Rafa will be leaving JDE Peet's, "the world's largest pure-play coffee and tea company," where he's been ceo since 2024. After KDP's acquisition of JDE Peet's, he had been appointed to lead its planned Global Coffee Co (revs $16 bil). Heineken calls him a "highly accomplished international consumer goods leader" who "brings more than two decades of experience in transformational leadership across both developed and emerging markets." Prior to JDE Peet's he worked at Kraft Heinz for about 10 yrs, where he rose to prexy of intl mkts, overseeing $7 bil in revs. And he also worked at Goldman Sachs as a banker for a number of yrs. The Brazilian-born exec began his career as an equity research analyst in his native country and is 51 yrs old. Rafa is "a dynamic, visionary leader with an exceptional track record of leading global consumer businesses and delivering transformational growth," said Peter Wennink, chair of Heineken's supervisory board. "Throughout his career, Rafa has consistently transformed complex challenges into clear organisational priorities, aligning teams around what matters most, and driving disciplined execution of strategy." And Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken said: "My family and I are pleased with the rigorous global selection process&hellip;. We believe Rafa's proven ability to translate strategy into disciplined execution, his strong people leadership, and his clear strategic vision are the qualities needed to become an excellent Heineken CEO."Recall, previous ceo Dolf van den Brink resigned in January, in a surprise, after 6 yrs at the helm. Dolf left the co at the beginning of Jun, at which time Heineken said new ceo hire was imminent. Recall, 2 of Heineken's top 15 investors publicly urged Heineken to hire externally in a highly unusual (and critical) Financial Times article. And now Heineken has done just that. Both Diageo and Remy Cointreau have also recently hired ceos from outside.By going outside, Heineken "breaks the mould," headlined Bernstein's Trevor Stirling. "There is much to like in Rafa's background," according to Trevor, including that he's had "extensive exposure to the 3G performance culture from his time at Kraft Heinz." Heineken has "definitely broken the mould in appointing a Brazilian ex-banker as CEO, albeit one with twelve years of senior CPG experience," Trevor reiterated. Rafa is "a highly regarded operator with strong CPG and capital markets pedigree," who has a track record of "translating strategy into measurable financial outcomes," Jefferies analysts Ed Mundy and Sebastian Hickman said in a note. "We expect this to reinforce a high-performance culture at Heineken, with a tilt toward simplification, sharper resource allocation" and implementing Heineken's plan for up to &euro;500 million of annual productivity savings, they said. Heineken stock is up 3% today following the announcement.Recall, Heineken recently hired another Brazilian sr exec from outside (Pepsi): Alex Carreteiro became prexy of Heineken Americas, about one third of Heineken biz, starting Mar 1. Both Alex and Rafa have strong track records, but lack experience in alc bevs. "As a beer industry and Heineken outsider, he will have a lot to prove," ING analysts wrote about Rafa in note quoted by Reuters and others. But Rafa's familiarity with 3G culture is also notable as competition heats up with its much larger competitor, Anheuser Busch InBev.

Heineken Names New CEO Rafael Oliveira Starting Oct 1; Served as JDE Peet's CEO; "Breaks the Mould"

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