Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink is stepping down after nearly six years at the helm as the world’s second-largest brewer grapples with weak consumer demand and sluggish sales.
The Dutch brewer said Monday that van den Brink will leave at the end of May after deciding it was the “right time to hand over his responsibilities,” with the board launching a search for a successor as he transitions into an advisory role for eight months.
The brewer is expected to report a 2% to 3% drop in beer volumes when it posts full-year earnings next month, after warning in October that annual profit growth would come in at the lower end of its 4% to 8% forecast range, according to the Financial Times.
The company said van den Brink reached the decision in consultation with the board.
Analysts flagged the timing as no surprise given that Heineken’s shares have underperformed rivals since van den Brink took over in mid-2020. The company’s total shareholder returns trail those of peers including AB InBev and Carlsberg.
The shake-up leaves Heineken without a named successor, a break from tradition that some analysts warned could unsettle investors, as supervisory board chair Peter Wennink said the company would begin a formal search process.
During his tenure, van den Brink steered Heineken through historic cost inflation and steep price increases, while rolling out a sweeping cost-cutting and restructuring program aimed at protecting margins.
To counter the shift toward alcohol moderation among consumers, Heineken under van den Brink pushed marketing that framed beer as a social connector, including campaigns portraying drinking as a healthier alternative to excessive screen time.
In an interview with the Financial Times in October, van den Brink argued that beer’s role as a “social lubricant” should be part of the broader debate over the harms of alcohol as drinking habits evolve.
He also led a string of major acquisitions that deepened Heineken’s exposure to emerging markets, including deals in India, South Africa and Central America that expanded the brewer’s footprint beyond its traditional European base.
