PARIS (Reuters), – French sugar maker Tereos announced Tuesday that Ludwig de Mot has been appointed its chief executive. He succeeds Philippe de Raynal, who resigned in February after a mere one year.

Tereos is the second largest sugar producer worldwide, with significant operations in Brazil. Since 2020, when an internal dispute led to its removal of the chairman and CEO, Tereos has been reviewing its management team and reviewing its strategic plan.

De Mot is a Belgian 58 year old who was previously the interim manager responsible for transformation at Swissport airport services company. In addition to his positions as an executive and board member in maintenance, mineral production, and packaging sectors, he also held these roles.

According to a spokeswoman for Tereos, it is the first time Tereos has appointed someone other than a Frenchman as the head of the cooperative. De Mot will begin on April 7.

Tereos stated in a statement that Tereos’ industrial expertise and transformation skills will allow Tereos the ability to implement a progress strategy at each of its production sites, and accelerate Tereos’ return to sustainability profitability.

Tereos stated that Gwenael Elies (current chief financial officer) was named head of finance and information systems. She had previously been acting CEO after de Raynal left.