Paris (AFP)

One arrives, the other leaves: the transition is underway at the head of Danone, where the former CEO Emmanuel Faber cracks a letter to say goodbye to the employees, and the new president Gilles Schnepp s' works to reassure them, at the same time as the shareholders.

Sunday evening, the board of directors of the French food giant voted to oust Emmanuel Faber with immediate effect.

Mr Schnepp has been appointed chairman, while the group has set out to find a new chief executive, the end of a crisis at the top fueled by investment funds hostile to Mr Faber, which they believe to be. responsible for commercial and financial performance deemed insufficient.

In a video message published internally, the new president wanted to reassure employees by following in the footsteps of his predecessor, according to information from Figaro and Le Monde.

"It is a period of transition which raises many questions among employees on the future of Danone and the course that will be set," commented to AFP Laurent Pouillen, Force Ouvrière coordinator within the group.

He needs to hear the new president "live".

"He has to clearly explain to us what he wants to do," he adds.

Mr. Schnepp also addressed shareholders in a letter consulted Thursday by AFP: "My priority as chairman is to lead the company's transition to a renewed, strengthened governance system, to help accelerate the creating value for you, our shareholders, and all our stakeholders, ”he wrote in this message in English.

He indicates that the board of directors still supports the Local First reorganization project imagined by Emmanuel Faber, which provides for a major overhaul of the organization chart and up to 2,000 job cuts (out of the 100,000 that Danone has worldwide) in framing.

The funds hostile to Mr. Faber wanted this plan to be suspended until the next CEO of the group is found.

This project "will make Danone stronger, will enable us to accelerate growth and the creation of value and to better meet the needs of consumers in all the countries where we operate", believes Mr. Schnepp.

"This will also unlock significant resources that will be reinvested in our brands and commercial projects," he adds.

He specifies that this project concerns only organizational matters, and that the next general manager will have "full latitude to develop and implement his strategy for the company, including, without the list being exhaustive, in terms of 'allocation of capital, investment decisions and changes in the portfolio ".

- "It's sad, but that's how it is" -

In a completely different register, Emmanuel Faber addressed the employees in a two-page letter.

His departure ?

“It's sad, but that's how it is,” he said.

He says the board was under "unacceptable pressure" from investment funds and did not want to "save appearances" by stepping down on his own on Sunday evening, preferring that each director " take responsibility ".

The tone of the letter, addressed to all Danone employees, then takes on a warmer tone: "For 24 years of my life, I grew up and learned among you. (...) You made me grow among you, as a man and as a leader. "

"This business is extraordinary. For many of us it is like family. Take care of it," he wrote again.

"You are pioneers," he says further on, referring to the status of a company with a mission recently adopted by Danone, which requires it to pursue extra-financial objectives, particularly in terms of environmental protection.

"This is the only possible road for the market economy because one day social and climate justice will impose itself on capitalism and its governance of the past", he believes, not without recalling that 'he had renounced in 2019 "all the privileges of boss that I consider of another age, my severance pay, my hat retirement".

© 2021 AFP