Barry Callebaut Hires Ex-Unilever Leader Hein Schumacher as CEO
Chocolate-maker Barry Callebaut has a new chief executive officer, naming Hein Schumacher to the role.
Schumacher brings an extensive 25-year career in the food industry. He joins the company from Unilever, where he served as its CEO from 2023 to 2025. Before that, he held key leadership positions at Royal FrieslandCampina, a major dairy cooperative, where he served as CEO from 2017 to 2023, navigating through COVID-19 and a major restructuring initiative.
Schumacher also spent time with HJ Heinz (now Kraft Heinz) in various senior leadership roles, including president and CEO of the Asia Pacific business and EVP of the China business.
Transformation-Focused Leadership
Within these roles, Schumacher oversaw extensive shifts toward sustainable, tech-enabled supply chains. At Unilever, he led a collaboration with Amazon, implementing the Kaizen Japanese problem-solving methodology to map pain points and use data to reduce waste and inefficiencies in the order-to-fulfillment cycle.
At FrieslandCampina, he helped reduce emissions and increase productivity by merging the Dutch production and logistics facility in Rotterdam with its Maasdam location, also closing two milk powder towers in Leeuwarden. This reduced CO2 emissions in fresh-daily dairy production by 30%.
Additionally, Schumacher led the installation of 96 Lely Spheres — circular barn systems that automatically separate solid manure and urine and convert nitrogen emissions into fertilizer. This reduced nitrogen emissions up to 70%.
This experience could translate into Barry Callebaut's ongoing work with AI. The company partnered with Microsoft in 2024 to simplify and digitize its front and back ends and introduce efficiencies across the value chain.
Also: Barry Callebaut to optimize recipe development with AI, food analytics
In fact, as part of his new role, Schumacher will be advancing the company's BC Next Level transformation program, which involves using collaborative technologies to streamline production, optimize the supply chain and elevate customer experiences through increased speed to market.
The Transition
Schumacher takes over for Peter Feld, who departed the company to pursue other career opportunities.
Callebaut was selected following an "extensive global search process," according to board chairman Patrick De Maeseneire.
"Hein is a seasoned and decisive leader with a unique blend of expertise in food, B2C and B2B, and ingredients," De Maeseneire said in a statement. "He is the right leader at this stage to chart Barry Callebaut’s next phase of increased customer focus, winning culture and financial strength, based on our fully integrated cocoa and chocolate business model.
During his time as leader, Feld faced challenges such as exorbitant cocoa bean prices, market turbulence and a challenging geopolitical situation, according to Barry Callebaut. He remains in an advisory capacity to help aid in the transition.
