ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Michael Schai has been named chief executive officer of Aryzta AG, effective Jan. 1, 2025. He will succeed Urs Ernst Jordi, who has served as interim CEO since November 2020.

Schai has been CEO of Lindt & Sprungli Australia since January 2019. Earlier, he was with Aryzta for four years, first as managing director of Aryzta Bakeries Asia-Pacific and later as global strategic business lead for McDonald’s and managing director of the global bun bakeries business unit. Prior to Aryzta he was CEO of Hiestand Schweiz AG. He also has worked as a brand manager and international product manager at Mars, Inc.

Jordi, who was elected chairman of Aryzta AG in September 2020, was named interim CEO two months later. At that time, he was tasked with delivering change and improvement across the business. Less than six months later, Aryzta sold its North American baking business to private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg for $850 million. The company’s portfolio included both private label and branded offerings under the Otis Spunkmeyer, La Brea Bakery and Oakrun Farm Bakery brands. Aryzta North America operated 15 production facilities with more than 4,000 employees in the United States and Canada at the time of the sale.