New CEO at Suntory Beverage & Food

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Japan’s Suntory Beverage & Food has named Josuke Kimura as its new representative director, president and CEO.

Kimura will succeed Makiko Ono in the new role.

The appointment is expected to become formal following the company's annual shareholders meeting in late March and a subsequent board meeting.

Ono is scheduled to step down from her current role and assume the position of director, senior managing executive officer at Suntory Holdings, a role currently held by Kimura.

In a statement, Suntory Beverage & Food said the move is aimed at supporting “sustainable” growth by accelerating "innovation" and "transformation".

Kimura joined Suntory Limited in 1983. He has held positions such as senior general manager of marketing and CEO of the Japan business division.

Two additional directors are also set to stand for election. Naoto Okinaka, now serving as senior managing executive officer, is to be proposed as director, senior managing executive officer.

Sho Senba, senior managing executive officer of Suntory Holdings Limited, is also slated for appointment as director.

Directors Maki Nakamura and Hideki Kanda will retain their positions, while Hachiro Naiki, Peter Harding, and Toru Miyanaga will retire from the board.

In September, Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami left the Japanese group amid an ongoing police investigation into his alleged purchase of possibly illegal supplements.

Niinami had been CEO at Suntory Holdings for over a decade, taking on the position in 2014.

The company said in a statement that “without waiting for the outcome of the investigation, the company determined that Takeshi Niinami’s actions which demonstrated a lack of awareness regarding supplements rendered him unable to continue in the key position of representative director, chairman and CEO”.

The company confirmed to Just Drinks that it would not be finding a replacement for Niinami, with president Nobuhiro Torii continuing to lead the group.

"New CEO at Suntory Beverage & Food" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand.

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