July 3/Toronto/Globe Newswire -- Steve Bromley, chief executive officer of SunOpta Inc., appointed Hendrik (Rik) Jacobs to the position of president and chief operating officer, effective August 1, 2012. In this role, Jacobs will report directly to Steve Bromley and assume operational responsibility for SunOpta Foods, the company's core integrated natural and organic foods business.
Jacobs brings over 20 years of international sales, marketing, innovation, strategic development and general management experience to this role. Over the past 11 years, Jacobs held a number of progressively responsible positions with Tetra Pak, a supplier of equipment and materials for the processing and packaging of liquid food products, with revenues of approximately $12 billion in 165 markets worldwide. Most recently, he served as cluster vice president for North Europe with responsibility for the U.K., Ireland, Scandanavia and the Baltic States. Prior to this role, he served as managing director Benelux with responsibility for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, as vice president of Strategy and Planning with responsibility for setting long term technology and product development strategies, and as vice president of Sales for Tetra Pak USA. Prior to joining Tetra Pak, Jacobs held a number of international sales, marketing and general management positions with PepsiCo, Royal Dutch Ahold and the Coca-Cola Company. He holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the American Graduate School of International Management and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Oregon State University.