RFG HOLDINGS – which owns brands such as Rhodes, Bull Brand, Magpie, Squish, Bisto, Hinds and Pakco – announced yesterday that Bruce Henderson, who has served as chief executive of RFG for 22 years, was to retire in September and would be succeeded by Pieter Hanekom.
Hanekom, 56, is the group’s deputy chief executive and would be promoted to chief executive on October 1. He joined RFG in 2015 as managing director of long life beverages and was promoted to his current position in July 2020.
RFG chairperson Dr Yvonne Muthien said: “Bruce has led the group with distinction, overseeing the expansion from a single brand fruit business into a diversified, multi-brand food producer owning a portfolio of market-leading brands and a world-class production base”.
“During this time the group has concluded multiple acquisitions and expanded into several new product categories and geographic markets. Bruce led the listing on the JSE in 2014 which was a pivotal point in the group’s history,” she said.
Henderson would continue to serve on the board in a non-executive capacity from October 1, RFG said.
Hanekom has more than three decades experience in the food industry, including 20 years at Pioneer Foods, where he was managing director of Ceres Fruit Juices and head of the Ceres Beverage Company and had been a member of the RFG executive committee since 2015.
“He led the group’s successful entry into the fruit juice market and subsequent growth in this highly competitive category. He has been integrally involved in the development of the strategy and the expansion of the long life foods business,” said Muthien.
Recently RFG reported its results for the six months to end March and saw a 46.4 percent increase in headline earnings to R119 million and headline earnings per share was up by 46.2 percent to 45.6 cents a share.
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