Duvel Moortgat has named Seraf De Smedt president of Duvel USA, the parent company of Boulevard Brewing and Brewery Ommegang.
Effective immediately, De Smedt will take the helm from Boulevard founder John McDonald, who will return to retirement. McDonald temporarily paused his retirement in January when Jeff Krum resigned as president in the midst of a sexual harassment and toxic workplace scandal that rocked the Kansas City, Missouri-headquartered craft brewery that also brought about the dismissal of the company’s chief financial officer and three additional employees, as well as the resignation of VP of marketing Natalie Gershon.
“Since Boulevard became part of the Duvel Moortgat family of breweries in late 2013, Seraf has been an instrumental leader for our company,” McDonald said in a press release. “He has always worked closely with our U.S. operations, so having him take over the reins as president gives me great confidence that we are set up for a successful future.”
De Smedt, who has served as chief finance and administration officer for Duvel Moortgat since 2013, will split time between the U.S. and Belgium, working with the U.S. leadership team while also overseeing the Duvel’s global finance team.
Rounding out Duvel USA’s leadership team are:
- Bobby Dykstra, executive vice president of sales and marketing;
- Rick DeBar, general manager of Brewery Ommegang;
- Steven Pauwels, brewmaster of Boulevard;
- Dali Grabar, director of engineering for Boulevard;
- Julie Weeks, vice president of communications and culture;
- Stephanie Walker, director of human resources.
More details to come.