HEINEKEN appoints new President of the Europe Region

    HEINEKEN appoints new President of the Europe Region 

Amsterdam, 1 November 2023 - Heineken N.V. (HEINEKEN) today announces that Glenn Caton will succeed Soren Hagh as President Europe from 1 January 2024. Glenn joins HEINEKEN from Mondelez International, where he is currently Senior Vice President Global Commerce and was previously President for South-East Asia and President of Northern Europe. Glenn will join the Executive Team reporting to Dolf van den Brink, HEINEKEN’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board. Soren Hagh will leave HEINEKEN on 31 December 2023 to take up a new role which will be announced shortly.

Soren HaghSoren was appointed as Regional President for Europe and member of the Executive Team in March 2020. Over the last 3.5 years, as part of our EverGreen strategy, he has led the fundamental transformation of our European business, focusing on improving profitability and value creation by winning in premium, digitally transforming our route-to-consumer, and leveraging our scale advantage. He has led an end-to-end transformation of the regional supply chain network to step change productivity, increase asset utilisation, improve innovation rates and put us on the path to deliver our net-zero ambitions in the region. In parallel, his teams have focused on strengthening their premium portfolios and launching a next generation of premium brands that connect to Gen Y and Z. Soren has also led a bold transformation of our route-to-market in Horeca by launching the Eazle platform across the region and building it into the industry leading eB2B platform in Europe.

Soren joined HEINEKEN in 2013 as HEINEKEN’s Executive Director Global Marketing. In 2016 he was appointed Managing Director of HEINEKEN Italy, where he successfully led the premiumisation of HEINEKEN’s brand portfolio, drove innovation of local brands and accelerated the digitisation of the wholesale business. Prior to HEINEKEN, he held several senior management positions at LEGO, DIAGEO and L’Oréal.

Dolf van den Brink, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, commented: “I would like to express my gratitude to Soren for his significant contributions to HEINEKEN over the last ten years. Soren has driven our EverGreen transformation in Europe investing in our premium portfolio and driving innovation at scale, whilst also building a future-fit organisation by leveraging our supply chain network and digitally transforming our route-to-consumer. He has been a valuable member of the Executive Team and I wish him every success in his future ventures.”

Glenn CatonGlenn joins HEINEKEN after 10 years at Mondelez International where he is currently Senior Vice President, Global Commerce based in Chicago with responsibility for channel strategy; revenue growth management; customer partnerships and sales excellence. Glenn’s passion for customer and consumer centric growth and commercial excellence has helped establish stronger capabilities and business impact; with Mondelez being one of the world’s fastest growing, global consumer products companies in 2023.

He started at Mondelez in 2013 as VP for Chocolate Northern Europe before becoming President, Northern Europe in 2016, where he delivered strong top and bottom-line growth through a focus on world-class manufacturing, commercial excellence and a refreshed brand marketing. He moved to Singapore in 2018, initially as Category President for Chocolate across Asia, Middle East and Africa before becoming Business Unit President for South-East Asia where he successfully steered the business through the COVID pandemic, driving growth, productivity and strengthening the organisation.

Glenn started his career at P&G, where he worked for 9 years based in the UK and Geneva in roles across Sales and Marketing. He then moved into the wine sector as Senior Marketing Director for Europe at E&J Gallo in 2003. In 2006 he joined Hiscox Insurance as UK Sales & Marketing Director and subsequently Managing Director of the UK Direct to Consumer business based in London; where he led the shift from a B2B business to a more consumer-orientated, brand-led business. After 4 years he returned to the wine sector as UK Managing Director of Direct Wines, the largest consumer wine business in the world.

Dolf van den Brink, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, commented: “Glenn brings great experience of operating across different sectors, regions and cultures. He has driven growth and innovation and delivered consistently strong results leading businesses in FMCG, financial services, direct-to-consumer and retail. He is an entrepreneurial, highly commercial, and creative leader who has demonstrated a clear ability to build highly motivated teams that drive for results and deliver change. He will be a great addition to HEINEKEN and our Executive Team, and I very much look forward to working with him.”

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About HEINEKEN

HEINEKEN is the world's most international brewer. It is the leading developer and marketer of premium and non-alcoholic beer and cider brands. Led by the Heineken® brand, the Group has a portfolio of more than 300 international, regional, local and specialty beers and ciders. With HEINEKEN’s over 90,000 employees, we brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world. Our dream is to shape the future of beer and beyond to win the hearts of consumers. We are committed to innovation, long-term brand investment, disciplined sales execution and focused cost management. Through "Brew a Better World", sustainability is embedded in the business. HEINEKEN has a well-balanced geographic footprint with leadership positions in both developed and developing markets. We operate breweries, malteries, cider plants and other production facilities in more than 70 countries. Most recent information is available on our Company's website and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Attachments

• Press release - HEINEKEN appoints new President of the Europe region (1_11_2023)
• PHOTO: Soren Hagh
• PHOTO: Glenn Caton