Ahold Delhaize has announced the appointment of Natalie Knight, the current CFO at Danish dairy firm Arla Foods, as its new chief financial officer, effective 1 March 2020.
The appointment comes a day on from the announcement that current Ahold Delhaize chief financial officer Jeff Carr is to assume a role with consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser in April of next year.
Carr announced his plans to depart the retailer in September.
'Instrumental Role'
In a statement, Ahold Delhaize said that Knight, who oversaw Arla's finance, legal and IT functions, was 'instrumental in the company’s transformation and efficiency program, called Calcium, which meaningfully lowered the company’s cost basis'.
The retailer described the US native as a 'finance leader, who puts particular focus on commercial and cross-functional performance management and has helped Arla make substantial progress in the area of sustainability finance'.
Prior to joining Arla, Knight worked for sportswear giant Adidas for 17 years, leading the acquisition of Reebok, and undertaking operational transformation efforts within the business, particularly in the wake of the last financial crash.
“I’m thrilled to have Natalie join Ahold Delhaize," commented Ahold Delhaize president and CEO, Frans Muller. "She has worked in both the US and Europe, across a variety of industries, including branded consumer goods and food products. With her broad experience across several Finance areas, her commercial mindset, and her demonstrated leadership in cost reduction and business transformation efforts, she is the right leader to help accelerate Ahold Delhaize’s Leading Together strategy. I look forward to working with her.”
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
