The Chief Executive Officer of Dutch brewing giant Heineken, Dolf van den Brink, has announced his resignation amid a challenging economic climate marked by declining beer sales and job cuts.
In a statement released on Monday, Heineken said Van den Brink will step down from his position on May 31, ending a nearly six-year tenure during which he steered the company through what it described as turbulent economic and political conditions.
The 52-year-old executive said the timing was appropriate for a leadership change, noting that he believed it was the right moment to hand over the reins.
The leadership transition comes at a difficult period for Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer after AB InBev.
The company has been grappling with falling beer volumes, particularly in Europe and the United States.
Heineken’s most recent quarterly results, released in October, showed a sharp drop in beer sales, which Van den Brink attributed to a challenging operating environment that produced mixed performance across markets.
The brewer reported net sales of €7.3 billion in the third quarter, down from €7.6 billion in the previous quarter.
Also in October, the company announced plans to cut or redeploy about 400 jobs as part of a restructuring of its Amsterdam headquarters aimed at leveraging new technologies.
Following the resignation announcement, Heineken shares fell by more than four percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange, which remained largely flat overall.
The company’s board said it has begun the process of searching for a successor to lead the global brewing group.
