Tiger Brands taps Tjaart Kruger as new CEO – here’s why

When last month Tiger Brands announced the replacement of CEO Noel Doyle with Tjaart Kruger, the company’s share price surged – jumping just over 10% to a 25-year record high.

Doyle’s replacement as CEO of South Africa’s leading food producer with Kruger, the former CEO of rival Premier Foods, comes as the food group issues a profit warning for its full-year results ahead of the final numbers due in December.

For the year to 30 September, the packaged goods company said headline earnings per share are expected to be down by 2-5%.

Citing poor performances in rice, bakeries, groceries, and snacks, the company warned operating profits will be lower due to the “ongoing challenges of fully recovering input costs [which] persisted in the second half, resulting in marginally lower volumes”.

These have been challenging times for the food producer – owing to a 500% increase in loadshedding-related costs, high levels of inflation and lower disposable income.

Like many South African consumer goods companies and retailers, Tiger has seen its profits hit due to the rising cost of living, higher-priced raw materials, record-high unemployment, and civil unrest. Not to mention, ongoing power cuts, which have continued to squeeze income for companies.

Kruger as turnaround specialist

By bringing on board new leadership, the maker and marketer of brands such as Jungle Oats and Koo hopes to tackle these challenges.

“Following the board’s annual review of the company’s strategy, the board concluded that new leadership was required to respond to the challenges currently facing the company,” Tiger Brands said in a statement.

The board believes Kruger’s appointment (he has a 26-month contract with Tiger Brands) will provide certainty to the company, the market and other key stakeholders and accelerate the execution of the company strategy.

Kruger certainly has form as a turnaround specialist, having led rival Premier Group in a return to profit with a purpose, successfully leading the 12,000-strong Group’s expansion and growth strategy over a decade – from 2011 to 2021.

With more than three decades of leadership under his South African belt, Kruger has worked at multiple large FMCG companies, including a previous six-year stint at Tiger Brands – where he served as MD of the pharma and grains division – as well as at Country Bird Holdings and Afrox. He is a registered chartered accountant.