Further information
Change in the directors board
Dr. Thomas Beer will retire on 31 October 2020 after more than 34 years with the Oetker-Gruppe. We expressly thank Dr. Beer. He has had a significant and, above all, very successful influence on the development of the Martin Braun-Gruppe and the Hannover location for 29 years.
The current Management Board of the Martin Braun-Gruppe will be working with a changed composition as of 1 September 2020. In addition, there will be an expansion combined with a corresponding division of tasks within the Management Board. This change is necessary because the Martin Braun-Gruppe has grown enormously over the last 15 years and the markets have changed considerably at the same time:
1. Dr. Detlev Krüger, previously Spokesman of the Management Board, is appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Management Board of the Martin Braun-Gruppe. As before, he will be responsible for Marketing & Sales Strategy, Strategic Corporate Development including Merger & Acquisition and DTO as well as Corporate Communications and Compliance. In addition, he will in future be responsible for Human Resources & Organization at group level. Furthermore Dr. Krüger will remain Chairman of the Board of Polen Gida, our joint venture in Turkey, and will continue to be responsible for the Asia-Pacific region across all product ranges. In his role as Chairman, Dr. Krüger will steer the Management Board and coordinate its work.
2. Mr. Franky De Grave, previously Co-CEO of our Frozen Bakery Division, is appointed to the Management Board of the Martin Braun-Gruppe and becomes Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In this role, he will succeed Dr. Beer in his current professional responsibilities: Finance & Controlling, IT, Quality Management, Production & Logistics, Purchasing. Mr. De Grave will carry out his work from Belgium as well as from the Hannover location. Mr. De Grave brings with him many years of comprehensive professional expertise for his new areas of responsibility from his previous functions in different industries. He is already largely responsible for these specialist areas within our Frozen Bakery Division and can therefore benefit from his broad experience in his new responsibilities.
3. Mr. Reto Huber and Mr. Christian Tomasch are also appointed to the Management Board of the Martin Braun-Gruppe. As Chief Operating Officer (COO) Bakery Ingredients Division, Mr. Huber will be responsible for the country units of the Ingredients Division of the Martin Braun-Gruppe.
As Chief Operating Officer (COO) Frozen Bakery Division, Mr. Tomasch will be responsible for the country units of the Frozen Division of the Martin Braun-Gruppe. Mr. Huber and Mr. Tomasch, both of whom have been working successfully for the Martin Braun-Gruppe for many years, are already firmly established in their future areas of responsibility and therefore bring with them a broad range of expertise and many years of experience. While Mr. Huber will continue to operate from Hannover as well as from the Swiss location, Mr. Tomasch will assume his responsibilities from the Fürth and Hannover locations.
4. In this structure, all four gentlemen will in future be jointly responsible for the business of the Martin Braun-Gruppe. On the one hand, the objective is to ensure a clear overall strategic direction and cross-divisional management of the Martin Braun-Gruppe through the CEO and the CFO. At the same time, the COO areas will ensure that the needs of the operative business are taken into account and influence the daily work of the Management Board in the best possible way.
All in all, the changed structure of the Management Board is a clear signal that the Martin Braun-Gruppe wants to grow even more strongly together across national and divisional boundaries in order to be even better positioned to meet the challenges of the markets. In addition, the international orientation of the Management Board is a clear commitment to internationalization and to our foreign locations. At the same time, however, it is also a clear signal for our German locations, as the Management Board will be based in Hannover, from where it will have a decisive influence on business. And finally, the comprehensive expertise of the future Management Board is also a clear commitment to further organic and acquisition-based growth.
Martin Braun-Gruppe, Postfach 91 13 21, 30433 Hannover
www.martinbraungruppe.com, info@martinbraun.de