International bakery group Lantmännen Unibake has named Jan Klarsov Henricksen CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Klarsov Henricksen, current CEO of Lantmännen Danpo, succeeds Bent Pultz Larsen, who is retiring after 26 years with the company.

“In his 26 years at Lantmännen Unibake Bent Pultz Larsen has taken the company from a small player to one of Europe's biggest bakery groups,” Johan Karlström, director of Lantmännen's food division, said in a press release. “Bent has been a hugely popular leader and a great asset for Lantmännen as well as the entire industry. Now that the time has come for him to retire we are very pleased to present a strong profile from our own ranks. Jan Klarskov Henriksen has achieved impressive results with Lantmännen’s chicken business, and I have no doubt that he will prove to be a very worthy successor to Bent.”

In his three years as Lantmännen Danpo and Kronfågel CEO, Klarskov Henriksen turned deficit into profit. Today Danpo and Kronfågel have an annual turnover of more than 332 million euros.