Chris Schutte is to retire next year from his position as CEO of South Africa’s largest poultry producer, Astral Foods.
Schutte will leave at the end of January 2025 after Astral’s annual general meeting, the company said in a stock exchange announcement. He has been CEO for 16 years and will be 65 next year, the company’s mandatory retirement age.
Theuns Eloff, Astral’s executive chairman, praised Schutte’s contribution to the poultry industry and said Schutte will consult to Astral “in a strategic role” for a year from February 2025.
While Astral said a formal replacement process had started, analyst Anthony Clark told Business Report he regarded Astral chief operating officer Gary Arnold as the “heir apparent and probably a shoo-in”.
Clark said Schutte was honest and outspoken, and had steered Astral through difficult times.
“Through thick and thin, Chris has always been there, and now the silver fox is leaving the henhouse for a well-earned retirement,” said Clark.
