2026-06-24
Heineken has named Rafael Oliveira, the chief executive of JDE Peet’s, as its next chair and CEO, turning to an outsider for the first time as the Dutch brewer tries to revive sales growth and reassure investors.
The company said Oliveira will join on October 1 for a four-year term, subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting on August 5. Heineken announced the nomination on Tuesday in Amsterdam.
Oliveira will take over after the surprise departure of Dolf van den Brink, who led Heineken for six years and announced his resignation in January. The brewer has been without a CEO since the start of June, a period of uncertainty that had weighed on the stock. Shares rose 3% after the announcement, outperforming the broader market and reaching their highest level since March.
Heineken said its supervisory board chose Oliveira after what it described as a rigorous global search and expects him to speed up execution of the company’s EverGreen 2030 strategy. Peter Wennink, chair of the supervisory board, said Oliveira’s background in global consumer goods and operational execution made him well suited to lead the next phase of growth. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, whose family remains the controlling shareholder, said his ability to turn strategy into disciplined execution was central to the decision.
Oliveira comes from outside the alcohol industry. He has led JDE Peet’s since November 2024 and, after Keurig Dr Pepper acquired the coffee and tea group, was appointed in April to run KDP’s planned global coffee business, a new publicly traded company with about $16 billion in annual revenue. In a statement issued by KDP on Tuesday, Oliveira said leaving Keurig had been a difficult decision.
Before JDE Peet’s, Oliveira spent a decade at Kraft Heinz, where he rose to president of international markets and oversaw a portfolio worth more than $7 billion across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Earlier in his career, he worked in finance at Goldman Sachs and at Brazilian banks Banco Icatu and Banco BBA Creditanstalt.
Reuters reported that analysts saw strengths in Oliveira’s consumer goods and capital markets experience, especially at a time when some Heineken investors have been dissatisfied with returns. Laurence Whyatt, an analyst at Barclays, said Oliveira had shown at JDE Peet’s that he could quickly diagnose problems and reset strategy.
At the same time, some analysts warned that his lack of direct beer and alcohol experience could be a risk. ING analysts wrote that as an outsider to both Heineken and the beer industry, he would have much to prove.
Heineken is entering that transition under pressure on several fronts. The brewer is carrying out a plan to cut 6,000 jobs while trying to restore sales volumes in a market where global beer demand is expected to decline. It is also trying to narrow the gap in investor returns with rival Anheuser-Busch InBev.
The wider drinks industry is facing weaker consumer spending, changing drinking habits and growing concern about alcohol’s health effects. Companies are also watching newer threats, including weight-loss drugs that some executives and analysts believe could reduce alcohol consumption.
In his statement, Oliveira said Heineken’s 2030 strategy offered a strong platform for future growth. He said he was confident the company could accelerate growth, improve productivity and adapt its business for changing consumer demand while preserving its global brand portfolio, which includes Heineken lager as well as Tiger and Sol.