Kellogg's has established a 15-strong new sales team dedicated to convenience as part of its strategy to become a major player in snacks in the UK.

The new convenience team, which will be headed by UK general manager sales and snacks Jean-Yves Heude, has been created to accelerate the implementation of the snacks strategy in Kellogg's drive to achieve more than half of sales from products other than cereals.

"We want to bring consumers alternatives to traditional snacks," said Heude. "We are investing in new technologies, advertising and sales. But snacks is an impulse category and we need to be in the right location when a shopper is looking to buy."

Before the restructure, Heude had been general manager UK snacks for nearly two years, and before that he spent several years as Kellogg's general manager, Benelux and sales director, France. He joined Kellogg's in 2000 after nine years at Masterfoods in senior sales, finance and IT roles and two years as organisation manager for Martini France.

The new snack sales team, which is comprised of 12 retail development representatives (RDRs) and three regional managers, will focus on smaller retailers and convenience outlets.

The RDRs will initially focus on the core range of snack products launched last summer to convenience retailers and buying groups, such as Budgens, Booker and Nisa Today's.

The creation of the new team follows a trial in Birmingham in 2007, in which RDRs gave retailers insight into customer behaviour and advice on where snacks should be sited.

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