As CFO and CEO at Sara Lee, he engineered the company's split.
Cargill Inc on April 1 named Marcel Smits, the former CEO of Sara Lee Corp., as its chief financial officer, effective April 15. Smits became Sara Lee's CEO in 2011 after two years as the company's CFO. During his tenure at Sara Lee, the company split into two publicly traded entities, Hillshire Brands, a North American food company that kept Sara Lee as one of its product brands, and D.E Master Blenders 1753, a coffee and tea business listed and based in the Netherlands. Smits replaces Sergio Rial, who left Cargill in November 2012. He is a native of the Netherlands and also held positions for Unilever in Europe, Latin America and Asia, and two Dutch companies - Vendex KBB and KPN.
