Seabrook Crisps owner Calbee UK has appointed Martin France as sales director.
France is an industry veteran, with 23 years’ experience at Mars. He joined the fmcg behemoth as a temporary factory associate in the pet care business and worked his way up the ranks in various sales roles, ultimately becoming customer development director for the grocery channel at Mars Wrigley UK.
France left Mars in 2023, setting up his own consultancy, Gravitate, and co-founding Spark Opportunity, a mentorship programme for young people from underprivileged backgrounds.
In his new role at Calbee, France will lead the sales team and strategy.
“Having worked with Martin at Mars, I know he possesses the skills, character and drive to help us on our growth journey in the UK and I am delighted he has agreed to join the Calbee family,” said Calbee UK group MD Jon Wood.
“Martin will be instrumental in continuing to build the Seabrook and Harvest Snaps brands and leverage the innovative product technologies and market-leading brands available to us through the wider Calbee group,” Wood added.
Meanwhile, France could “see huge opportunities for category growth, not just on the core Seabrook brand, which will always be at the heart of the business, but also the wider portfolio.”
The UK’s interest in global cuisines, “particularly Japanese flavours”, created “space for product and flavour innovation”, France added.
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