Dive Brief:
- Lindt & Sprüngli ousted CEO Adalbert Lechner as the premium chocolate giant charts a turnaround.
- Dieter Weisskopf, vice-chairman of the board and the chocolate maker’s former CEO until 2022, will assume the top post on an interim basis. The company is looking for a permanent CEO, and it expects to name a successor in the second quarter of 2027.
- The Ghirardelli owner said its board concluded that new leadership was needed to “return to consistent, strong growth and to capture opportunities in all its markets globally.” Lindt & Sprüngli also made leadership changes in Germany and Austria, where it has faced challenges recently.
Dive Insight:
Lindt & Sprüngli, the owner of Lindt, Ghirardelli and other chocolate offerings, has struggled in recent years as consumers pull back on spending and volatile cocoa prices have increased its costs.
The company, headquartered in Switzerland, has already cut its outlook twice this year. The board finally had enough, and now it is turning to a company veteran to reprise his old role temporarily as Lindt & Sprüngli searches for a new CEO to right the ship.
“We will invest significantly in our brands while improving our profitability,” Weisskopf said in a statement. “My task is to hand over to the next CEO a company with renewed momentum.”
Last month, Lindt & Sprüngl blamed lower-than-expected order volumes in Germany, Switzerland and Austria for the lowered guidance. The company forecast organic sales growth to be unchanged to up 2% for the year, down from its initial target of 6% to 8%.
