Southern man to head National Foods
Lion Nathan NZ's Peter Kean is to head one of Australasia's biggest food and beverage companies.
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Rich List
Lion Nathan New Zealand managing director Peter Kean is moving over the Tasman to run the Melbourne-based National Foods subsidiary of Lion Nathan National Foods.
He has been with Lion for almost 25 years, starting out as a Speight’s representative in Otago and rising to managing director for the past six years.
He succeeds Andrew Reeves, who is leaving to become chief executive of George Weston Foods in Sydney. The changeover occurs on April 1.
National Foods is one of Australasia's largest fast-moving beverage and dairy companies, with an annual turnover of about $A3.5 billion and which employs more than 4000 people. It and Lion Nathan merged in 2009 when Japan's Kirin Holdings completed its takeover of Lion.
An announcement on the role of Kean’s successor in New Zealand will be made "in the near future,” LNNF chief executive Rob Murray said, adding that Mr Kean's appointment reflected his success in consistently delivering earnings targets "in a very challenging and highly complex market environment” in both the dairy and juice sectors.
"He leaves our New Zealand operation in excellent shape and strong heart; with a business strategy and achievement culture that will ensure the organisation’s continued success well into the future.," Mr Murray said.
Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich says Mr Kean's promotion is a New Zealand success story.
“It is one of the most significant leadership roles in Australasia and we wish him all the best with taking on the challenges ahead," she says.
Mrs Rich remembers when he was workng for Speight's Mr Kean was a "much adored honorary" member of the Otago rugby team..
Food Industry Week
Tue, 08 Feb 2011
Tue, 08 Feb 2011
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Southern man to head National Foods
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