Food and beverage company Tiger Brands has appointed new MDs to head up the company’s six newly organised business units.

The company has simplified its organisational structure into six business units, all reporting to CEO Tjaart Kruger.

These are Bakeries, led by MD Quinton Swart; Grains, led by MD Liezel Holmes; Culinary, led by Dumo Mfini; Snacks, Treats and Beverages, led by MD Grant Pereira; Home and Personal Care (HPC) and Baby, led by MD Ismail Nanabhay; and Tiger Brands International, led by MD Polycarp Igathe.

“Tiger Brands has a strong leadership and talent pipeline. This is evident in the appointment of the new MDs, who are internal to the company, with credible leadership experience and a record of excellence in the fast moving consumer goods sector,” says Kruger.

In December 2023, Kruger announced that the company would prioritise the implementation of a new operating model to enable sustainable growth, restore focus into the operations and enable agile decision-making.

“Our portfolio includes some of South Africa’s most loved and ionic brands and accounts for almost 30% of the South African grocery basket. With the leadership team in place and a simplified organisation to deliver on our priorities with focus, we will work with renewed intensity and urgency on ensuring that we refocus our portfolio, remove complexity and restore cost leadership while ensuring our brands remain relevant to our consumers,” says Kruger.

Swart’s professional career spans 20 years, occupying senior management and executive leadership roles at JSE-listed companies with a global footprint, including Sasol and Nampak. He was also a nonexecutive board member at various companies within the Nampak Group.

He holds a BCom (Hons) in Statistics from the University of Pretoria (UP).

Holmes began her professional career at Tiger Brands 20 years ago as a young graduate. She has since held roles across multiple business units specialising in marketing, customer marketing and customer management.

She holds a BCom (Hons) degree in Marketing from UP.

Mfini returns to the Culinary unit following an earlier stint in 2022 as acting MD of the business cluster. He joined Tiger Brands in 2016 and has held several senior leadership positions across the business, including Cereals MD.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Pereira joined Tiger Brands as Category MD of Snacks and Treats in 2022. Prior to this, he had a 12-year career at South African Breweries and Anheuser-Busch InBev Africa in leadership roles spanning Marketing and Finance.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Science from the UCT and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa).

Nanabhay joined Tiger Brands in 2018 as Beverages MD. His professional career spans 29 years working for multinationals, including Coca-Cola, bp and Castrol, across Southern and Central Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

He holds a BCom degree in Marketing from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Igathe was appointed Tiger Brands Rest of Africa chief growth officer in January 2022.

He began his professional career as a management trainee at Queensland Health in Brisbane, Australia. He has held senior management roles at Coca-Cola SABCO Kenya.

For Tiger Brands, he served as East Africa regional MD from 2008 to 2013.

He holds a BA degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Nairobi and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Management from Strathmore University in Nairobi and the University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain.