HEINEKEN appoints new Chief Commercial Officer

Amsterdam, 20 November 2020 - Heineken N.V. (HEINEKEN) today announces the appointment of a new Chief Commercial Officer. 

Following a highly successful career at HEINEKEN spanning 27 years including five years as Chief Commercial Officer and almost nine years as an Executive Team member, Jan Derck van Karnebeek has decided to leave HEINEKEN to pursue other interests outside of the company as of 1 March 2021.

Jan Derck van Karnebeek will be succeeded in the Executive Team by James Thompson in early 2021. James is currently Head of Categories, Brand, Innovation and Stores at Avon. He has extensive experience in the beverages sector from his prior 24-year career at Diageo PLC.

James Thompson, a British national, has previously held a number of senior international leadership roles. At Avon, he was part of the leadership team charged with driving its purpose, commercial, marketing, digital and cultural transformation, including its new campaign “Watch Me Now” and leading global and local collaboration across over 50 markets. During his time at Diageo PLC he worked globally and on three continents including in North America as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, in Asia Pacific as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, and as Managing Director, Global Reserve. Prior to Diageo PLC, James spent 10 years at Unilever PLC in various marketing positions.

Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board / CEO, commented: “I am delighted by the appointment of James Thompson. He is a very experienced executive with an international perspective on consumer, customer and marketing trends, both in developed and emerging markets. James has an excellent track record and a wealth of experience in premium brand building, consumer centricity, innovation and leading multi-category development. Our Executive Team very much looks forward to working with James to further evolve our commercial strategy. I would also like to thank Jan Derck for his significant contribution to HEINEKEN. It has been a real pleasure working with Jan Derck over the years.”

Under the leadership of Jan Derck van Karnebeek, HEINEKEN’s Commerce teams have thrived across regions with iconic brands and marketing campaigns. Over the past years, the company’s organic revenue growth has accelerated. The Heineken brand has shown the best performance in decades and it continues to perform very well across all continents. HEINEKEN has progressed strongly on the digital technology opportunity, both in brand marketing and in digitalising our sales channels. With the innovation success of Heineken 0.0 and many other of HEINEKEN’s international brands, the company is well positioned for future growth.