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Luc Vandevelde, chief executive and chair of European tea and coffee group JDE Peet’s, is stepping down less than five months after taking up the role as part of a reshuffle orchestrated by controlling shareholder JAB Holdings.
Vandevelde, a former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, is leaving with immediate effect due to “unforeseen matters” that require his attention, JDE Peet’s said on Monday.
JAB managing partner and chair Peter Harf will take over as chair and JDE Peet’s chief financial officer Scott Gray will serve as interim chief executive until the position is permanently filled, the company said in a statement.
Vandevelde was announced as interim chief executive and chair of the owner of coffee brands L’Or, Kenco and Douwe Egberts in March this year, as JAB sought to shake up the group following a long period of underperformance. He took up the role in April.
Shares dipped by 1.5 per cent in morning trading on Monday.
The Dutch-listed company, which has a market value of €10.1bn, has struggled with inflation and rising input costs, despite increasing consumer prices.
London robusta futures, the global benchmark for coffee, surged above $4,500 per tonne on Monday, having nearly doubled over the past 12 months.
Soaring prices, which cannot be passed on to consumers indefinitely, are squeezing coffee makers’ profit margins, Italian coffee giant Lavazza warned recently.
But results from the first half of this year signalled an improvement in JDE Peet’s fortunes. Shares surged earlier this month after the company raised its guidance for the year ahead in July, after beating half-year expectations. The tea and coffee giant said it expected full-year sales growth at the higher end of its previous forecast of 3 to 5 per cent.
A spokesperson for the company said that management remained “fully committed” to the raised guidance, citing “robust, broad-based performance across top-line, profitability and cash flow, despite operating in a challenging environment”.
The search for a permanent CEO, which started in April, is “nearing completion,” according to the spokesperson.
In the meantime, Gray “is the best person to lead the company,” the person said, adding that Gray had “been instrumental to the company’s recent improved performance” and “played an increased role since the CEO change [announced] in March 2024”.
Vandevelde will join JAB as a senior adviser focusing on packaged consumer goods, said the company.
“JAB has a strong conviction in the long-term growth prospects of JDE Peet’s, and we are fully committed to our investment in the world’s leading pure-play coffee and tea company,” said Harf.
