Johann Marihart has been the head of Agrana for almost three decades. Successor Markus Mühleisen comes from Germany.
The long-term boss of the Agrana Group, Johann Marihart (70), surprisingly remains in office three months longer. The old hand's contract would have expired at the end of February but has now been extended by the Supervisory Board until the end of May. Markus Mühleisen (54) will be the new Agrana CEO from the beginning of June. Most recently, he was a manager at the dairy cooperative Arla Foods in Germany.
Veteran
At Agrana, Mühleisen will in future be responsible for communication, strategy, human resources and economic policy. With Marihart, the listed fruit, starch and sugar company has lost a veteran. He is considered one of the longest serving company bosses in Austria. From the founding of Agrana in 1988 Marihart was on the board, from 1992 chairman of the board.
In a broadcast on Friday, the supervisory board thanked him for the work he had done as CEO for almost three decades. “The successful development of Agrana is closely linked to Johann Marihart”, said Chairman of the Supervisory Board Hameseder. Sales increased sevenfold in the Marihart era. “In addition to the successful expansion in Europe, the development of the fruit business is one of Johann Marihart's main achievements.”
Much experience
The future Agrana boss Mühleisen has been active in the food and beverage sector for over 20 years, for example at Nestle, General Mills and, since 2018, at the international dairy group Arla Foods as Group Vice President. The chairman of the supervisory board, Hameseder, referred to Mühleisen's “great international experience in the food and beverage industry”.
