The CEO of Tiger Brands, the owner of household brands such as KOO, Oros, Ace maize meal, Black Cat, Albany, Beacon and Jungle Oats has fallen on his sword after the company’s board lost confidence in him, ending his two decades association with the food producer.
The company on Friday said Noel Doyle, pictured, who was appointed CEO of the company that is worth about R27-billion on the JSE at the beginning of 2020, will vacate office at the end of this month.
Doyle will be replaced by Tiger Brands former executive Tjaart Kruger.
“Following the board’s annual review of the company’s strategy, the board concluded that new leadership was required to respond to the challenges currently facing the company,” the company said.
“During his tenure as CEO, Noel and his team were required to navigate the challenges of Covid-19, civil unrest, global supply changes and high levels of inflation. In this period, the company’s underlying operating profit trajectory was stabilised and there have been significant improvements in key internal operating metrics.
“The board thanks Noel for his contribution over 20 years of service with Tiger Brands and wishes him well for the future.”
Kruger, a retail veteran, is no stranger to Tiger Brands, having previously served in the role of managing director of the pharmaceuticals and grains divisions over the period 2001 to 2007.
His most recent leadership role was serving as CEO of Premier Foods over the period 2011 to 2021, where he successfully led Premier Foods’ expansion and growth strategy.
Tiger Brands said Kruger would be in the CEO role for just 26 months.
“The board believes that this appointment will provide certainty to the company, the market and other key stakeholders and accelerate the execution of the company’s strategy and value creation for shareholders,” the group said.
“The board will commence a process to identify a suitable successor for the CEO role in due course to ensure an orderly transition at the end of Tjaart’s tenure.”
Tiger Brands is also without a chief financial officer after the resignation of Deepa Sita in July.
Doyle’s ouster comes just weeks after Pick n Pay sacked Dutchman Pieter Boone as the CEO of the grocery chain store, less than two and a half years into the role.
This is after the retailer’s board said that a change in leadership was needed to get the retailer back “on the right trajectory”.
Pick n Pay, which has lost half of its value since the start of the year, then sent an SOS to its former CEO Sean Summers to come back to the role at a ripe age of 70, making him one of the oldest CEOs of a listed company in South Africa.
