South African fresh produce company Capespan has confirmed that Ronan Lennon, former managing director of its UK import business, has agreed to take over from Louis Kriel in a new role as chief executive of its fruit procurement division from the start of August.
Having returned to Capespan last October in a temporary capacity in order to lead the group's export operations, following the departure of Abrie de Swart, Lennon has now taken on many of the responsibilities previously held by Kriel, whose own decision to step down at the end of May was seen as ushering in a new era in the company's development under the majority ownership of Zeder Investments.
Eurofruit understands that the chief executive role has in fact been split in two as part of a significant restructuring of the group's fresh produce operations. A second CEO position, with responsibility for marketing, has yet to be filled.
A spokesperson for Capespan also revealed that the new Capespan Fruit Marketing chief executive might not be located in Cape Town: 'They won't necessarily be based in South Africa; it could potentially be that they are in Europe. It all depends on the applications we receive.'
Lennon, who is in the process of relocating to South Africa after nine months looking after Capespan Exports, is credited with transforming Capespan International, one of the UK's largest fresh produce companies, which he led for 12 years.
'In the latter capacity, he transformed the company from a single-source consignment sales organisation into a multi-source, multi-category one, involved in all aspects of the value chain,' the spokesperson commented. 'In addition, Capespan International Ltd was voted Importer of the Year in 2008 and 2009.'
Prior to that, Lennon was general manager of Capespan's mainland European operation after various management roles at Unifruco, Polly Peck International and South Africa's erstwhile single-desk export body the Deciduous Fruit Board.
Capespan Group managing director Johan Dique said he was sure Lennon would bring a vast amount of customer, market, procurement and general management experience into the business.
'He'll contribute significantly to further develop and bed down the customer-driven Capespan business model and strategy,' he said. 'As such, he’ll ensure buy-in, improved communication, alignment and focus between South African and international procurement, the Capespan fruit marketing entities and our global customer base.'
