Sector News

Grappling with losses, Brazil's BRF reorganizes senior management

July 7, 2017
Consumer Packaged Goods

Brazil’s BRF SA has opened new senior vice president slots to help Chief Executive Officer Pedro Faria run the world’s No. 1 poultry exporter, which has been beset by two consecutive quarters of losses and fallout from a food safety scandal.

In a securities filing on Thursday, BRF said the reorganization would entail 14 vice presidencies reporting directly to Faria. Previously, BRF had five senior vice president positions and six general managers with vice president status, according to a company spokesman.

The reorganization will allow BRF to group Asian, European, Americas and African commercial operations into an international division that will be overseen by Simon Cheng, until recently sole head of Asia operations.

BRF will also have vice presidents looking after Brazil, halal food division OneFoods Holdings Inc and the Southern Cone separately, the filing said.

The move underscores efforts by Chairman Abilio Diniz to arrest weak operational performance and rising debt that led to BRF’s first ever annual loss last year. Management at the São Paulo-based food processor has been working with a consultancy firm on a strategy to reignite growth, especially in Brazil.

In addition, BRF’s operations were disrupted by a federal police probe in March, which found several food processing firms bribing inspectors to overlook food safety rules.

Common shares fell less than 0.1 percent to 39.06 reais at open in the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The company’s shares are down 19 percent this year, reflecting concern over BRF’s rising debt and failure to tame costs and reduce waste in Brazil.

After losing $140 million in the fourth quarter, Faria and Diniz announced a management overhaul. BRF lost $87 million in the first quarter after the food safety scandal forced it to shut a plant for several weeks. ($1 = 3.2883 reais)

By Ana Mano and Gabriela Mello

Source: Reuters

comments closed

Related News

March 24, 2024

Aldi’s new flat and stackable wine bottles “make light work of heavy shopping baskets”

Consumer Packaged Goods

Collaborating with Packamama, Aldi has rolled out the “UK’s first” supermarket own-brand flat wine bottles within its Chapter & Verse label. The recyclable ergonomic packaging concept is made from 100% recycled PET (rPET) and available for shiraz and chardonnay options.

March 24, 2024

Health, sustainability, and a taste for adventure drive snacking behaviors: Mondelēz State of Snacking report

Consumer Packaged Goods

For the fifth year in a row, global consumers expressed a preference for snacking over traditional meals, with six in 10 consumers saying they’d rather eat several small meals throughout the day than a few large ones, according to the fifth annual State of Snacking report from Mondelēz International. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) consumers snack daily.

March 24, 2024

Shareholders challenge Nestlé to increase sales of healthy foods

Consumer Packaged Goods

The shareholders are urging Nestlé to set a target to boost the proportion of its sales from healthier products amid concerns regarding regulatory, reputational and legal risks faced by the company, as well as the public health implications “associated with an over-reliance on less healthy foods”.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach