Personal care ingredient distributor Barentz International has appointed Peter Boone as its chief executive, effective 1 October.
Boone (pictured, left) will succeed Hidde van der Wal (pictured, right), who has decided to retire after 23 years as CEO at the Dutch company.
Dutch national Boone joins from Barry Callebaut where he was CEO, having formerly led the Americas division and, prior to this, served as chief innovation & quality officer.
Prior to Barry Callebaut, he spent around 15 years at Unilever in various regional and global positions, leading on marketing, sales, and brand development, latterly as chief marketing officer for Australasia.
“I am delighted to be joining Barentz at this exciting time in its journey. I look forward to working closely with Cinven, the Supervisory Board and the rest of the Barentz team as we continue to grow and strengthen the company globally and tackle new challenges,” said Boone.
“Hidde has been a fantastic leader of the business over the past twenty years, and I will do my utmost to continue to build upon his work in establishing Barentz as a global leader in the speciality ingredients sector,” he added.
Van der Wal joined Barentz in 1988, working in various positions throughout the organisation. He left in 1994 to join Archer Daniels Midland, before re-joining Barentz in 2000 as CEO.
During his tenure he led the growth of Barentz throughout Europe and initiated its expansion into the Americas and Asia, growing turnover from €125m in 2000 to around €2.5 billion today.
Ben Osnabrug, Partner at Cinven and member of the Supervisory Board, said: “The board and I would like to express our deep gratitude to Hidde for leading and guiding Barentz the last 20 years as the company grew from a regional leader into the global player it is today.
“Hidde instilled the entrepreneurial culture of the firm and this is a key success factor positioning Barentz for further growth. We wish him the very best for his future.”
