Bakery giant Aryzta has announced that Kevin Toland is no longer chief executive of the company.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, Aryzta said that Toland will cease his role as CEO with immediate effect.

The company said it had appointed Urs Jordi, chair of the Aryzta board of directors, as interim CEO at Aryzta, pending the recruitment of a permanent CEO.

Kevin Toland has departed as CEO of Aryzta

The news of Kevin Toland’s departure as CEO of Aryzta – a role he held for just three years – comes amid sweeping boardroom changes at the company.

Disgruntled shareholders

Disgruntled shareholders in the company have effectively taken control of the Aryzta board following an EGM in September and some major asset sales are on the cards.

Activist investors in Aryzta want to see the company sell off its struggling bakery businesses in the US and refocus on the European market.

At September’s EGM, shareholders removed Gary McGann as chair of the company after months of mounting tensions between the Aryzta board and some of its largest shareholders.

And now with the departure of Kevin Toland as CEO, there remains very little Irish influence at a company that can trace its roots back to the Irish co-op the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS).