Orkla Names Xavier Belison as New Chairman and Kjersti Hobøl as Board Member

Kjersti Hobøl has been appointed board member, while Xavier Belison will be chairman.

Orkla’s largest wholly-owned portfolio company will have its first chairman in French Xavier Belison, Orkla states in a press release.

– I am proud to become part of the board of a well-reputed company with many talented employees and brands, says Belison in the message.

Belison has senior management experience from Continental Foods, Heineken and Mars, and is currently chairman of the board of Groupe Panzani and of Partner in Pet Food. He has no previous connection to Orkla.

At the same time, Nille manager Kjersti Hobøl is appointed as a board member.

Hobøl also has senior management experience from Kid, DNB and Princess, and is a board member of Elektroimportøren, Aspelin Ramm, Byggmax and XXL.

In addition to Hobøl and Belison, the board consists of investment directors Atle Vidar Nagel Johansen, Øyvind Torpp and Hege Holter Brekke from Orkla ASA.

Orkla is one of the Nordic region’s largest producers of groceries. The company is behind products such as Grandiosa, Toro, Stabburet, Kims, Nidar and Idun. At the turn of the year, the group had 20,471 employees and 119 factories in 22 countries.

Billionaire Stein-Erik Hagen and his family are the biggest owners in the grocery giant. Hagen is also chairman of the board.