Henk Jan Beltman, chief chocolate officer at Tony’s Chocolonely, is calling it a day and passes the torch to Douglas Lamont, CEO of smoothie maker Innocent.
Doubts for some time
Beltman is stepping down as CEO of ‘his’ chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely. The co-founder had been at the helm since 2010, but had already made it clear in recent months that he had doubts about his position. He feels he is better suited as an entrepreneur and inventor than as the manager of a large company. The CEO also spoke openly about his health problems: in 2013 he suffered a severe, stress-related stroke.
The news does not come completely out of the blue, as the CEO already sold a large chunk of his shares in early February, reducing his stake from 42 % to around 26 %. He sold the shares to Verlinvest, one of the investment vehicles of the AB InBev family Spoelberch. Together with smoothie producer Innocent, they form the external shareholders of the company.
From smoothies to chocolate
The successor comes from the same shareholder base: from 1 October, Lamont will be heading the company. The British national is currently the CEO of Innocent and will be replaced in his current position by Nick Canney, managing director for the European market.
Lamont wants to focus on the further commercial development of the ethical chocolate brand, he tells The Grocer. Meanwhile, the company is also looking for a larger, new location for its head offices. Beltman himself will remain on the Supervisory Board.
