Peter Hajipieris

Peter Hajipieris

Birds Eye, Findus and Iglo owner Nomad Foods Europe has parted company with its CSR and external affairs director Peter Hajipieris after eight years with the business.

Hajipieris said he and Nomad had come to a “natural change point” after Nomad’s integration of the Findus Continental European business had been completed.

He was headhunted by then Permira-owned Birds Eye Iglo in 2008, and has since held a number of senior roles within the business, including creating the company’s sustainability programme, Forever Food Together.

Hajipieris has previously worked in senior roles at the former Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and is a founder member of the recently established UK Seafood Industry Alliance, which will represent the fish processing sector’s interests during upcoming Brexit negotiations.

His key achievements with Nomad and its predecessors include driving responsible sourcing and manufacturing across the business, selling the largest range of MSC-certified fish products globally, and driving research that demonstrated the benefit of frozen food in tackling food waste, Nomad said.

It is understood he plans to remain in the food industry after a short break.

Nomad has created a new role as a result of his departure, with Caroline Nobilé, the former marketing and development director for Findus France, becoming its new sustainability director on 1 February.

“Peter has done a great job creating our CSR model and embedding Forever Food Together across the company since he joined. I would like to thank him for his commitment and hard work,” said Nomad Foods Europe CEO Stefan Descheemaeker.

“We’re taking this opportunity to focus on bringing our Forever Food Together story to more consumers and customers through our brand strategy,” Descheemaeker added. “CSR remains at the heart of our business and we are committed to building on the strong foundations we have in place. I believe that Caroline is the right person to take Forever Food Together to the next, even more successful, phase.”

The Nomad business was “at a natural integration change point for me to now leave”, said Hajipieris.

“I wish the company and Caroline every success and want to thank the great colleagues that supported me across all the countries to make Forever Food Together the success it is today.”