Heineken has lined up Rafael Oliveira, the head of Dutch coffee group JDE Peet’s, as its new CEO.
The brewing giant’s supervisory board will nominate Oliveira as CEO and chair of the executive board for a four-year term, starting 1 October.
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Oliveira is set to succeed Dolf van den Brink, who stepped down in May after leading the firm for six years.
Van den Brink’s exit was announced in January, three months after the Amstel brewer unveiled a new five-year plan dubbed EverGreen 2030. The plan included restructuring measures, impacting 400 jobs at its global headquarters in Amsterdam.
As part of the strategy, which was announced in October, the company announced plans to prioritise a selection of global and local brands across 17 markets over the next five years.
“Heineken’s EverGreen 2030 strategy provides a powerful platform for the future, and I look forward to building on that momentum while bringing my own passion for performance, innovation and consumer focus,” Oliveira said.
The selection of Oliveira was made “unanimously” by the supervisory board, the Desperados brand owner said.
Shareholders will vote on the appointment during an extraordinary general meeting on 5 August.
Peter Wennink, the chair of the Heineken supervisory board, said: “Throughout his career, Rafa has consistently transformed complex challenges into clear organisational priorities, aligning teams around what matters most, and driving disciplined execution of strategy.”
Oliveira has been the CEO of JDE Peet’s since 2024. Last August, US drinks group Keurig Dr Pepper announced plans to acquire JDE Peet’s and then split the combined business two.
Under the plans, Oliveira was chosen to lead Global Coffee Co., a new publicly traded business that would bring together Keurig Dr Pepper’s coffee operations with those of JDE Peet’s.
Prior to joining JDE Peet’s, Oliveira worked at Kraft Heinz from 2014 to 2024.
Before entering the consumer goods sector, he built his career in finance, which included a ten-year stint working at Goldman Sachs.
In a statement, Keurig Dr Pepper said it had started a process to recruit to replace Oliveira.
Tim Cofer, Keurig Dr Pepper’s CEO, “will continue to oversee the coffee business, partnering closely with the talented coffee operating unit leadership team to deliver key commitments and separation milestones”, the company said.
Cofer is set to take on the role of CEO of the non-coffee business once the new group is split in two.
