BRF undergoes management shake-up
Former leader of the Brazilian petroleum business Petrobas, Pedro Palente will head up BRF. In addition, the firm’s board of directors have created the global chief operating officer position that will be held by Lorival Nogueira Luz Junior.
Parente will be responsible for prioritising the strategic and financial planning process of the business. He will lead the process of the reorganisation of the company, such as filling key positions and issues related to the governance.
During his time with Petrobas, Parente was involved in Brazil’s recent truckers’ strike that was sparked by rising fuel prices, which caused major production issues for BRF. Following the strike, Parente resigned from his position as Petrobas CEO earlier this month.
Luz Junior, who was previously the chief financial officer and investor relations officer at BRF, will be responsible for the operational management of the company and will report to Parente. Luz Junior has 20 years’ experience in the financial industry and has also been a member of BRF’s executive board for the past two years.
Parente will succeed Jose Aurelio Drummond Jr who resigned from his role as chief executive in April, with Luz Junior stepping in as interim CEO.
The resignation of Drummond Jr was prompted after the business was at the centre of a police investigation over the alleged cover-up of salmonella in poultry products. The investigation involved 270 federal police officers and 21 federal agricultural tax auditors.
Despite the firm’s struggles, the business reported growing volume sales across its Brazilian, Turkish and Chinese units that helped increase its net revenue by 5.7% to R$8.2 billion in its first quarter results.
