Tiger poaches AVI exec

Cape Town - Tiger Brands may have lost its bid to buy out rival food group AVI, but that has not stopped the consumer brands conglomerate from poaching one of AVI's top executives.

On Thursday Oceana, the fishing group controlled by Tiger Brands, announced that François Kuttel had been appointed as CEO from July 1. Kuttel is currently the CEO of AVI owned fishing and seafood brands business Irvin & Johnson (I&J).

Kuttel, who has headed I&J for the past three years, is well respected in the local fishing sector and has gained a reputation as a smart operator after guiding I&J through some tough trading conditions.

Kuttel replaces Andrew Marshall, who recently left Oceana to take head up packaging group Nampak.

Market watchers initially thought Marshall's replacement would come from outside the fishing industry.

"One might have expected Oceana to appoint someone from outside the fishing industry - or perhaps someone from Tiger Brands. This is a business that requires strong management at the top as there are so many external factors to deal with."

But most observers agreed that appointing a top executive from a major rival as CEO was a canny move by Oceana.

Under Kuttel, I&J has shown a marked operating performance. AVI's interim results to end-December 2008 showed chilled and frozen convenience brands pushing revenue up 15% to R970m.

More impressive was the division's gain in profits - up a whopping 63% to R140m.

Kuttel's experience, though, goes beyond I&J. He comes from a well-known fishing family in Cape Town, and has nearly two decades' experience in the industry.

Market watchers reckoned Kuttel's experience at I&J, which specialises in frozen seafood brands, could serve Oceana well if the company was set to make acquisitions or seek out new partnerships to broaden its range of fishing activities.

- Fin24.com