Having spent almost six years at Arla Foods between 2015 and 2021 where he led 60 production sites, de Jonge most recently served as chief operations officer for battery materials at Umicore.
Based in Amsterdam, he will report to Kraft Heinz zone president Willem Brandt while forming part of the EPBM leadership team and overseeing end-to-end supply chain management across the region.
This responsibility involves all of the stages involved in producing and delivering Kraft Heinz’s range of products “on time, on budget and to the highest standards”.
During a career spanning 30 years in supply chain management, de Jonge has also worked for Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser. Employed by Unilever for 14 years, he started as a project engineer before moving into various roles within the FMCG giant.
Return to the FMCG industry
“I'm thrilled to announce that I have taken on the role of VP of operations for our zone Europe and Pacific Developed Markets at Kraft Heinz, based in Amsterdam,” de Jonge wrote on LinkedIn.
“My return to the FMCG industry, particularly with a powerhouse like Kraft Heinz, is a source of great excitement. I look forward to working with Willem Brandt, Flavio Torres, and the rest of the team! I am confident that we will drive our ownership-centric culture and exciting plans forward together.
“Lastly, I want to thank Iñaki Balduz for leaving me with an engaged and inspiring operations team to work with.”
In other news, the owner of Quorn Foods has suffered a £63m pre-tax loss.