Flavour Warehouse, an international e-liquid supplier, has appointed former AG Barr sales director Steve Smith as its chief sales officer.
Smith has almost 30 years’ experience in fmcg, having started in 1990 with Procter & Gamble’s graduate programme. He spent nine years with the Gillette and Fairy owner, rising to the position of customer business development team leader.
A five-year stint with Kellogg’s saw him take on the role of marketing manager for children’s cereal and the company’s Nutri-Grain snack bar range.
In 2004, Smith joined AG Barr with the role of general sales manager, which evolved into head of sales and then sales director during his 15 years with the Irn-Bru maker. In July, he was made redundant as the result of a management shakeup to simplify the supplier’s sales structure.
Smith was attracted to his new sales job at Lancashire’s Flavour Warehouse by the potential to “take some established fmcg principles and experience into a fresh, growing market – which just needs that extra bit of process and control” he said.
His first aims include expanding the fast-growing supplier’s presence into grocery. “Most of our UK business is through the vaping channel and our own online sales,” he told The Grocer.
He also intended to “step-change” Flavour Warehouse’s operations in Spain. “We’ve done well in France, we’ve done well in Germany, but our Spanish business has declined year on year.”
Smith is set to take charge globally of all the company’s commercial responsibilities, including marketing – with his title to upgrade to chief commercial officer.
Set up in 2013, Flavour Warehouse has a presence in around 80 countries. It manufactures e-liquids for its own Vampire Vape and Base brands, and for a number of third-party brands. It also owns Operation Vape, a distributor of e-liquids and vaping hardware.
This year, Flavour Warehouse – which recently achieved ISO9001 – expected to achieve sales of around £40m, Smith said. “It’s a vibrant business.”
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