Heinz chief commercial officer Matt Hill has been promoted to the role of president for UK and Ireland.
His appointment follows the promotion last month of Dave Woodward – who was president for UK and Ireland, Africa and the Middle East – to president of Heinz’s Rest of World business.
Hill will report to Dave Moran, executive vicepresident, president and chief executive officer of Heinz Europe. He joined Heinz as chief marketing officer in August 2010 from Unilever, where he had spent 17 years in UK, European, and global marketing roles, including global vice president for brand development for Knorr.
In January last year, when Woodward’s remit was extended from UK & Ireland to include Africa and the Middle East, Hill was promoted to chief commercial officer with responsibility for dayto- day business operations. The marketing, sales, and corporate & government affairs teams reported directly into Hill. He also oversaw nance, human resources and supply chain functions.
Last summer, the UK operation was singled out by Heinz as an area of “outstanding” performance. The company’s UK sales force had bucked the trend of intense promotional activity and sold more products at full price, Heinz CFO Art Winkleblack said at the time.
Since Hill became chief commercial officer, Heinz activity has included becoming the first brand to sell groceries through Facebook when it made Tomato Ketchup with Balsamic Vinegar available on the site last March.
Later in the year, it almost doubled the size of its Facebook community by giving consumers the chance to send a poorly friend or relative a 400g can of tomato or chicken soup bearing a personalised ‘get well’ message.
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