Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated.
Dive Brief:
- Ahold Delhaize President and CEO Frans Muller will retire from the company next year, according to a Wednesday announcement.
- The grocery company’s board has nominated Thierry Garnier, CEO of international home improvement company Kingfisher, to succeed Muller. Garnier, who has also served in chief executive roles for supermarket chain Carrefour, is expected to step into the leadership role in April 2027, around the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders.
- Muller’s retirement announcement comes just months after Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman announced his plans to depart in June to helm Dollar General.
Dive Insight
While Garnier has been away from the grocery industry for the past several years, he brings more than two decades of experience at French supermarket chain Carrefour to the top role at Ahold Delhaize. At Carrefour, he held numerous C-suite titles, including CEO of Carrefour International and CEO of Carrefour Asia, and was a member of the group’s executive leadership, according to the press release.
Garnier, who has led UK-based Kingfisher since September 2019, is also a non-executive director for supermarket operator Tesco.
“[Garnier] is a seasoned leader with a strong track record in retail, digital transformation, deep international experience, and a clear focus on customers, associates and the future of grocery retail,” Wiebe Draijer, Ahold Delhaize’s supervisory board chair, said in a statement. “Thierry’s approach to finding the right balance between leveraging group capabilities and staying close to local markets aligns well with Ahold Delhaize’s identity as a family of great local brands.”
Garnier said he plans to continue building on the company’s ongoing Growing Together strategy, which seeks to achieve 4% net sales compound annual growth and nearly $6 billion in cumulative savings by 2028.
Muller served as the CEO of Delhaize Group beginning in 2013, and held that title for nearly three years, according to his LinkedIn profile. After Delhaize Group merged with Ahold in 2016, Muller served as deputy CEO and chief integration officer and was acting chief operating officer for the company’s U.S. operations from October 2016 to January 2018. In July 2018, he was named president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize. The company reappointed him to the role in 2023.
Muller will continue to oversee Ahold Delhaize’s Growing Together strategy until the planned CEO succession next year, per the press release.
While Ahold Delhaize has appointed a new leader, the grocer has yet to announce a successor to Fleeman to run its U.S. division.
Correction: This story has been updated to note that Carrefour is a supermarket chain.
