Heineken nominates outsider Oliveira as CEO

The Netherlands | No more leadership void at Heineken. The Dutch brewer appointed Rafael “Rafa” Oliveira, 52, as its new CEO, ending a months-long search for a successor to Dolf van den Brink, who had led the world's number two brewer since 2020 before he resigned in January. Mr Oliveira will join Heineken for a four-year term, starting 1 October, the company announced on 23 June.

“After a rigorous global search, the supervisory board unanimously chose Rafa for his unique mix of strategic vision, operational expertise, and financial acumen,” Heineken said.

Mr Oliveira joins from JDE Peet's, one of the world's largest coffee companies, where he has been CEO since 2024. He is the first CEO since 2005 ⁠to be appointed from outside Heineken's ranks.

A Brazilian national, he began his career in Brazil in the equity research divisions at Banco Icatu and Banco BBA-Creditanstalt, Reuters said. From 2004 to 2014, he worked at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership positions. Before JDE Peet's, Oliveira spent a decade at The Kraft Heinz Company rising to President of International Markets, ⁠having started as CEO for Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2004. In November 2024, he was appointed CEO of JDE Peet's. In 2025, JDE Peet's generated total sales of EUR 9.9 billion and profitable growth.

Following Keurig Dr Pepper's acquisition of JDE Peet's in ⁠April and JDE Peet’s delisting from the Amsterdam stock exchange the same month, he was appointed to lead Keurig Dr Pepper’s planned new global coffee business. The company seeks to break itself into two US-listed companies: one for beverages and one for coffee, combining its own operations with JDE Peet's.

From Mr Oliveira's perspective, this appointment should be seen as a solution to a career problem.

Mr Oliveira will have the task of leading Heineken through a 6,000-strong job cut, to revive sales volumes despite a forecasted decline in global beer demand and to catch up with rival AB-InBev’s investor returns.