IN Brief:
- Wim Koole, Hilton Foods' global executive director for seafood, vegetarian and vegan operations, is due to retire on 31 October 2026.
- Seachill will move under Samy Zekhout, chief operating officer for the West, while Foppen will report to Melanie Chambers, chief operating officer for the East.
- The changes follow the completed Dalco disposal and ongoing improvement programmes addressing different trading and manufacturing challenges across Hilton's seafood businesses.
Hilton Foods is preparing to reorganise executive responsibility for its seafood manufacturing businesses, placing Seachill and Foppen under separate regional chief operating officers following the forthcoming retirement of Wim Koole.
Koole, currently global executive director for seafood, vegetarian and vegan operations, is due to retire on 31 October 2026 after approximately 20 years with the group. The reporting changes will take effect on the same date, with responsibility for Seachill and Foppen moving into Hilton’s existing regional operating structure.
Seachill, which processes chilled and frozen seafood in the UK, will report to Samy Zekhout, Hilton’s chief operating officer for the West. Foppen, the group’s specialist smoked salmon business, will move under Melanie Chambers, chief operating officer for the East.
Both executives already hold regional operating responsibilities within Hilton. Zekhout took up his current role in January 2026, following earlier service as a non-executive director, while Chambers became chief operating officer for the East as part of the same wider management changes.
The revised structure follows Hilton’s strategic review of activities outside its core meat and fresh prepared food operations. That programme has included measures to improve the performance of Seachill and Foppen, alongside the disposal of Dutch plant-based manufacturer Dalco.
Hilton completed the sale of Dalco to Livekindly Production NL in October, following an agreement reached in July for £5.4 million. The ownership transfer was a separate transaction from the seafood management reorganisation, although it formed part of the group’s wider review of its manufacturing portfolio.
Koole joined Hilton on 2 January 2006, having previously held production and general management positions in food and pharmaceutical businesses. His responsibilities have included leadership of the group’s European operations and, more recently, oversight of seafood and alternative protein activities.
The two seafood subsidiaries will enter the new reporting arrangements with different operational challenges. At Seachill, higher raw material prices and weaker demand for white fish have affected trading, while the company has been implementing measures to improve product yields and reduce costs.
In its September interim results, Hilton reported progress at Seachill through operational improvements and departmental restructuring. The company also noted stronger sales of salmon and prawns, which helped offset continued weakness in white fish products.
Those actions were initiated before the October management announcement. Hilton has not attributed additional manufacturing savings, a revised production target or a new investment programme to the decision to place Seachill under Zekhout.
Foppen’s difficulties have centred on the economics and organisation of smoked salmon production, including restrictions affecting exports to the United States from its Greek facility. Those restrictions have required the business to maintain supply through production arrangements involving its Netherlands operation while discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration continue.
The alternative manufacturing arrangements have increased operating costs. Hilton previously reported that part of the additional expenditure arose from transferring production between Greece and the Netherlands, while air freight costs and losses following a fire at a third-party warehouse also affected the business.
For the first half of 2026, Hilton recognised £7 million of Foppen-related exceptional costs. The company also reported that its seafood activities moved from an adjusted operating profit of £2.8 million in the equivalent period of 2025 to an adjusted operating loss of £2.2 million, with compressed margins at Foppen a major factor.
The £2.2 million figure covers the seafood activities reported by the group and should not be presented as the standalone result of either Seachill or Foppen. Similarly, the exceptional costs identified at Foppen reflect the specific operating and logistical difficulties disclosed for that business rather than expenditure caused by the forthcoming management changes.
Hilton has been seeking improvements in Foppen’s commercial performance while assessing options for the operation. The September results confirmed that the Greek export restrictions remained unresolved, and the company has not announced that they will be lifted when the new reporting arrangement begins.
Responsibility for Foppen will transfer to Chambers against that background. The management change does not itself establish a new decision on the future of the Greek facility, additional production transfers or changes to the Netherlands manufacturing operation.
Across the group, Hilton’s strategic emphasis has moved towards its core meat and fresh prepared food businesses, which performed more strongly than seafood during the first half of the year. Existing investment programmes in Canada and Saudi Arabia are proceeding separately from the reorganisation of the seafood businesses.
Hilton expects the transition involving Koole, Zekhout and Chambers to be completed by the end of October. Subsequent trading results will provide a firmer measure of progress at Seachill and Foppen, particularly the effect of Seachill’s yield and cost initiatives and efforts to restore normal export arrangements for Foppen’s Greek operation.
