Board of Directors
Experienced and balanced group of experts
The Board’s primary function is to exercise the ultimate management of the Group; it makes strategic decisions and defines the general means for achieving the goals it has set, defines the General Meeting agenda and approves the Annual and Semi-Annual reports, as well as the Compensation Report. Decisions regarding the appointment of members to the Executive Management, as well as resolutions on shareholders’ motions for the General Meeting, will be made by the full Board. The Board of Directors of ARYZTA consists of five members.
1965, Swiss
Term of office expires at the next AGM
Business economist, NKS (Aarau, Baden)
Urs Jordi has more than 30 years of experience in various national and international food companies at management and board level. He held various management positions within the Hiestand and ARYZTA Group, most recently as CEO of the listed Hiestand Holding AG (from 2008 within ARYZTA AG), and from 2010 to 2013 as CEO ARYZTA Food Europe & Asia Pacific. Since 2014, Urs Jordi has been involved in various own investments. He serves on the board of Schweizer Zucker AG. Urs Jordi is a trained baker and confectioner. Urs became a member and Chair of the Board in September 2020 and was appointed by the ARYZTA Board as Interim Group CEO on 19 November 2020.
Term of office expires at the next AGM
Master in Economics from the University of Bern (lic. rer. pol.), Certified Public Accountant
Cornelia Gehrig is an experienced independent board member with a proven track record as Group CFO in international industrial companies and several years of practice as Certified Public Accountant. Cornelia Gehrig has more than 20 years of Group Finance & Controlling experience at management level where she gained broad experience in transformation, M&A activities, turnaround and business excellence projects as well as in developing and implementing growth strategies. From 2006 to 2009 she was CFO of Ionbond Group, followed by CFO of Precious Woods Group from 2009 to 2011, and latterly CFO of Bystronic Group from 2011 to 2021. Cornelia Gehrig is a member of the Board of Directors of publicly-listed SKAN Group AG, Allschwil (CH), as well as being a member of the Board of Directors in 3 privately held companies in Switzerland. Cornelia Gehrig holds a Master in Economics from the University of Bern (lic. rer. pol.) and is a Certified Public Accountant.
1955, German
Term of office expires at the next AGM
Masterbaker and Business Degree
Heiner Kamps is a successful food entrepreneur with over 40 years of industrial experience. He founded the bakery chain Kamps AG, which he led as CEO until 2002. Since 2003, Heiner Kamps has held shares in various companies. From 2005 to 2018, he and other investors, owned a majority stake in the Nordsee GmbH fast food chain. From 2011 to 2015, he was CEO of the Müller Milch Group and from 2015 to 2018 chairman of its supervisory board. Heiner Kamps founded the charitable foundation Brot gegen Not (Bread against misery), which supports training in the bakery trade in needy regions. He is a trained baker and confectioner. Heiner became a member of the Board in September 2020.
1955, Swiss
Term of office expires at the next AGM
Masters in Economics from the University of St. Gallen (lic. oec. HSG).
Hélène Weber-Dubi has over 20 years experience in the food industry with a focus on Finance and Accounting, as well as Management Buy-Out, Mergers and Acquisitions and IPO. From 1999-2015, Ms. Weber-Dubi was CFO of the ORIOR-Group, a major Swiss food company and was a member of the Group Management Board. In 1996, Ms. Weber-Dubi accepted a position as financial controller with Bally. That same year, she was promoted to Managing Director of Bally Switzerland, Bally Italy and Bally Spain with a seat on the international Executive Board. In 1999 she was put in charge of financial control of Bally International and was primarily tasked with executing the sale of Bally to Texas Pacific Group. From 1982 to 1995 she held various management positions with Unilever in Switzerland and the UK, mostly in auditing and finance. Ms. Weber-Dubi is a member of the Board of Directors of Ospelt Anstalt in Bendern (FL). Hélène became a member of the Board in December 2020.
1956, Spanish
Term of office expires at the next AGM
Alejandro Legarda Zaragüeta is a highly experienced senior executive with significant management and non-executive director experience within various sectors, including transport, gas and food related industries. From 1994 to 2004 he was managing director of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A. (‘CAF’), a listed group which manufactures railway vehicles and signalling equipment and stayed on as a director of the non-executive board until 2019. His responsibilities were the management of the company’s global business. From 2006 to 2018, Alejandro was an independent director of Viscofan S.A., a listed group and the world leader in the manufacturing of casings for meat products, with commercial presence in over 100 countries around the world. He was independent director for Pescanova and Nueva Pescanova, a multinational fishing, farming and processing group from 2014 to 2017. Amongst the boards he has served on, Alejandro was executive chairman of the board of Nortegas Energıa y Distribución S.A. from 2017 to 2019 and an independent director of Duro Felguera S.A. from 2018 to 2019. 2022 was appointed member of the Board of Instituto Navarro de Inversiones, a regional promotion Bank in Spain. Alejandro became a member of the Board in November 2019.
Committees and Members
ARYZTA is committed to best practice corporate governance practices and recognises the importance of a strong framework to ensure it is implemented and managed correctly.
Audit Committee
Ms. Hélène Weber Dubi
Ms. Cornelia Gehrig
Mr. Heiner Kamps
Mr. Alejandro Legarda Zaragüeta
The Audit Committee’s role includes reviewing the Group and Company Financial Statements, the interim and full year results and the significant financial reporting judgements contained therein. The Audit Committee also reviews the Group’s internal controls, and the scope and effectiveness of the Group’s Internal Audit function. The Head of Internal Audit has access to the Audit Committee at all times and he and the Chief Financial Officer regularly attend meetings of the Audit Committee by invitation.
Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors
Mr. Alejandro Legarda Zaragueta
Ms. Hélène Weber-Dubi
The Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors is responsible for identifying and nominating, for approval by the Board and ultimately the shareholders, candidates to fill Board vacancies and for the continuous review of senior management succession plans. In addition, the Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors is responsible for regularly reviewing the structure, size and composition of the Board and making appropriate recommendations to the Board in order to ensure an adequate size and a well-balanced composition of the Board. The Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors is also responsible for making determinations regarding the independence of members of the Board.
The Board approves the Company’s environmental, social and governance ESG/sustainability strategy proposed by management including the measures which ensure the Company’s sustainability and how its long-term strategy relates to its ability to create shared value. The Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee has oversight over the structure and content of the Company’s ESG/sustainability reporting and validates that the Company’s overall approach is in line with the Company’s ESG/ Sustainability strategy and applicable reporting requirements and regulations. In order for the Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee to discharge its duties on ESG/sustainability matters, the Chair of this Committee can procure advice from any third-party independent advisor. Furthermore, management will provide regular reports to this Committee on several matters.
Remuneration Committee
Ms. Hélène Weber-Dubi
Ms. Cornelia Gehrig
Mr. Heiner Kamps
The Remuneration Committee is responsible for determining the remuneration of the executive and non-executive members of the Board.
Technology Committee
Effective 1 January 2025, the Technology Committee is tasked with identifying the best strategies to leverage emerging technologies, ensuring the company remains at the forefront of industry developments.
Executive Management
Focused core team
ARYZTA is following a multi-local management approach inline with its business activities. Therefore, many responsibilities are delegated to country and/or market heads while the core team at the headquarter in Schlieren is taking care of the overall management and supervision of the business.
1965, Swiss
Business economist, NKS (Aarau, Baden)
Urs Jordi has more than 30 years of experience in various national and international food companies at management and board level. He held various management positions within the Hiestand and ARYZTA Group, most recently as CEO of the listed Hiestand Holding AG (from 2008 within ARYZTA AG), and from 2010 to 2013 as CEO ARYZTA Food Europe & Asia Pacific. Since 2014, Urs Jordi has been involved in various own investments. He serves on the board of Schweizer Zucker AG. Urs Jordi is a trained baker and confectioner. Urs became a member and Chair of the Board in September 2020 and was appointed by the ARYZTA Board as Interim Group CEO on 19 November 2020.
1970, Swiss
Lic. oec HSG in Business Administration, Finance and Accounting from University of St. Gallen
Martin Huber joins ARYZTA with a wealth of finance and controlling expertise and a strong track record in driving value creation in both turnaround and growth business situations. Martin is a highly experienced multinational executive having lived and worked in Switzerland, Germany, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Over the last 20 years at Nestlé, he has held senior finance and controlling positions as market CFO. From 2011 to begining of 2016 he was the market CFO for Nestlé Brazil subsequently he assumed the role of Head of Group Control at Nestlé S.A. and from 2018, Martin was the CFO for the globally managed business of Nespresso. Martin Joined the Executive Comittee in August 2021.
1974, Irish
Solicitor, Law Society of Ireland; Law (LLB Hons), Trinity College Dublin; Masters (LLM Hons) in Commercial Law from University College Dublin; Diploma in Notarial Law & Practice (Dip. Not.) (F.N.P.I.), Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland
Rhona has served as a senior legal and regulatory advisor with over 20 years of legal and governance experience. Rhona joined ARYZTA on 11 September 2018 from DCC Vital Ltd (part of the DCC plc business) where she held the role of Senior Counsel, Legal & Compliance. Prior to joining DCC Vital, Rhona was Senior Director of Legal and Risk Management at Parexel International (IRL) Limited. Rhona was General Counsel and a member of the Executive Senior Management Team from 2013 to 2016 and Director of Regulation, Public Policy, Compliance and Equivalence from 2014 to 2016 at eir (formerly eircom). Rhona trained with Arthur Cox and is a qualified solicitor admitted in Ireland by the Law Society of Ireland and in England and Wales by the Law Society of England and Wales.
1976, British
Bachelors of Law (LLB) & LPC (Distinction), Cardiff University (UK); Executive MBA, London Business School
Sandip has 20 years of experience in the Bakery industry and was appointed as Chief Operations Officer and a member of the Executive Committee in April 2023. Sandip joined ARYZTA in 2015 and has held a variety of leadership roles across the Group, most recently as the Managing Director of the Global Bun Bakeries business unit and preceding that as Chief Customer Officer, ARYZTA Europe. Prior to joining ARYZTA, Sandip spent more than a decade at United Biscuits (now Pladis) working across a number of geographies (Europe, Asia and Africa) in diverse leadership and commercial roles. Sandip started his career as a lawyer at Allen & Overy LLP (London) in 2001.
Lead independent director
1955, German
Non-executive member
Term of office expires at the next AGM
The ARYZTA AG Board introduced the role of Lead Independent Director in November, 2020 following the appointment of the Chairman as the interim CEO. The Swiss Code of Best Practice for Corporate Governance recommends the appointment of a Lead Independent Director if for reasons specific to the company or because the circumstances relating to availability of top management makes it appropriate, the Board decides that a single person should perform both positions.
In accordance with good corporate governance, the Lead Independent Director is authorised to convene and chair meetings of the Board of Directors on his own if necessary. Further, the Lead Independent Director is authorised to assess the work of the Group CEO or any matter involving the Group CEO’s conduct or capacity, the decision on the compensation package of the Group CEO and decision on the Board’s proposal to the General Meeting for the re-election of the Chair.
The role of the Lead Independent Director and his duties are set out in detail in the Organizational Regulations of ARYZTA AG. Following the November 2021 AGM, the ARYZTA Board appointed Jörg Riboni as Lead Independent Director. In November 2023 Heiner Kamps replaced Jörg Riboni as Lead Independent Director. Given the dual role mandate of Chairman and interim CEO, the ARYZTA AG Board decided that the Chairman would not sit on any the Board Committees nor does he attend the non-executive Board member meetings.