Mondelez International has appointed Volker Kuhn as executive vice president and president for Europe.
Effective 1 April, Kuhn will replace Vinzenz Gruber, who will retire from the company. Kuhn will join the business on 6 January, working with Gruber to ensure a smooth transition.
He will report directly to chair and CEO Dirk Van de Put.
Kuhn joins Mondelez from his previous role as president of Reckitt’s hygiene business, its largest global unit, where he delivered “top and bottom-line performance acceleration driven by innovation, consumer centricity and category growth”, according to Mondelez.
Earlier, he served as Reckitt’s chief transformation officer.
Kuhn also spent 26 years with Procter & Gamble, leading several critical growth accelerations, turnarounds and business transformations across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.
He led the successful carve-out and divestiture of Duracell from P&G to Berkshire Hathaway, and spent 10 years leading the Pringles snacks division in Europe.
Kuhn is chairman and a non-executive board member of European frozen food company Frosta AG.
“We’re delighted to welcome Volker Kuhn to our Mondelez International family,” said Van de Put.
“His breadth and depth of international consumer packaged goods experience, coupled with his track record of impressive results and leadership impact, position him well to accelerate growth in our European region while continuing to strengthen consumer loyalty to our iconic brands.”
Van de Put added: “On behalf of team Mondelez, and especially our European colleagues, I’d like to thank Vince for his strong leadership and passionate dedication in driving commercial and operational excellence, consumer loyalty, and employee development.
“With Vince at the helm, we have advanced core brands including Cadbury, Milka and Oreo across Europe, while expanding into exciting adjacencies such as snack bars, cakes and pastries – setting up the business for continued growth and success.
“We wish him the very best in retirement.”
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