Brewing giant Heineken has appointed Rafael Oliveira as its new chief executive officer, with the former JDE Peet’s boss set to take over leadership of the Dutch beer maker from 1 October, subject to shareholder approval.
The company Tuesday said its supervisory board had nominated Oliveira to become chair of the executive board and CEO for a four-year term. His appointment will be put to shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on 5 August.
Oliveira joins Heineken from JDE Peet’s, where he has served as chief executive since 2024. Following the acquisition of JDE Peet’s by Keurig Dr Pepper, he was also selected to lead the planned Global Coffee Co., a new publicly traded coffee business expected to generate annual revenues of around $16 billion (£12.1bn).
Heineken said Oliveira brings more than 20 years of international consumer goods experience, having previously spent a decade at Kraft Heinz, where he rose to president of international markets and oversaw operations across Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Oliveira succeeds Dolf van den Brink, who left the brewer at the end of May after nearly six years as CEO and more than 28 years with the company. Van den Brink announced his decision in January, saying Heineken was entering the next phase of its EverGreen strategy and that it was the right moment to hand over leadership.
Peter Wennink, chair of Heineken’s supervisory board, described Oliveira as a “dynamic, visionary leader” with a strong track record of driving transformational growth in global consumer businesses.
“The supervisory board is confident that his energy and strategic acumen will accelerate the execution of the company’s EverGreen 2030 strategic agenda and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders,” Wennink said.
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, executive director, said Oliveira's strategic vision, people leadership and ability to deliver results made him the right choice to lead the brewer into its next phase.
“My family and I are pleased with the rigorous global selection process that led to the nomination of Rafa as CEO. 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,” she said.
Oliveira said he was “honoured and excited” to join one of the world’s most recognised brewing companies and pledged to build on the momentum of Heineken’s EverGreen 2030 strategy.
“As a long-time admirer of Heineken’s heritage and global impact, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead this great company into its next chapter.” he said. “I am confident we will accelerate growth, drive productivity and future-fit Heineken, winning the hearts of consumers worldwide,” he said.
The brewer said Oliveira’s appointment follows a global search process and combines fresh external leadership with the continuity provided by Heineken’s existing executive team.
The company added that the executive team would continue to run the business until Oliveira formally joins on 1 October.