McVitie’s and Jacob’s owner Pladis is aiming to maximise its growth opportunities with the appointment of two new roles.
Trevor Callander has been named vice president grocery UK&I, while Florence Brain joins as impulse director, UK&I, and will focus on the convenience and impulse channels.
Callander is a 20-year veteran of General Mills and was most recently sales, marketing and innovation director for Northern Europe at DS Smith.
In the new role at Pladis he will focus on driving sustained category growth as well as guiding the business’ response to industry-wide grocery sector challenges such as high rates of inflation and regulatory change.
Brain has joined the business from Britvic, where she was director of category, shopper and trade engagement across for the grocery, convenience, foodservice and hospitality channels.
She will lead the impulse commercial team with an aim to drive strategic partnerships with customers and unlock opportunities for Pladis brands.
“We’re delighted to welcome Trevor and Florence to the leadership team,” said Pladis UK&I managing director David Murray.
“Joining us at a time when our industry is facing significant headwinds, both bring with them unparalleled understanding of our sector which will help us navigate and exploit opportunities for growth, amid the evolving retail landscape.”
Pladis describes itself as the second largest biscuit manufacturer in the world, and owns brands including McVitie’s, Ulker and Carr’s. The business also distributes Godiva chocolates in select consumer-packaged goods channels in certain countries around the world. Pladis has more than 16,000 staff and operates 25 factories in 11 countries.
Jacob’s this month announced it had teamed up with charity FareShare to highlight food waste. The year-long partnership kicked with the unveiling of a giant 4.5-metre high fridge on London’s Southbank that was designed to show how British consumers throw out £412m worth of food each week. As part of the campaign, Jacob’s will be donating 40,000 meals over the next year to support FareShare’s network of around 9,500 charitable organisations across the UK.
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