Current Grocery & Marketing Director, Will Jones, is taking the helm of the UK division of dairy giant, FrieslandCampina, succeeding Gavin Blair who has led the company for the past three years.
Having previously held director roles in both marketing and commercial, Will is well equipped for his new position, which will see him take full accountability for the direction and performance of the business from June 2019.
Will said: “I’m unbelievably excited to take on this role. It’s going to be a challenge – we’ve got big ambitions for the organisation. All credit to Gavin, we’re already performing incredibly well – the business grew by +4% in 2018 and is currently on track to grow a further +9% in 2019. Now we want to take it to the next level, with ambition to double in size within the next five years.
“Our powerhouse brand, YAZOO will be key to that. While it’s already the number one flavoured milk drink brand in the UK, and outperforming the category with double digit YOY growth (+11%), we’ve identified plenty more opportunities to grow the channels and formats it appears in. Plus, we’ll be making smart choices in private label sector, which is a rapidly growing part of our business. With the support of our parent company there are also opportunities to launch new brands within the UK market. I’ll say no more, other than watch this space…”
FrieslandCampina is a £11.5bn company and the fifth biggest dairy organisation in the world.
Since joining the organisation as Marketing Director in April 2015, Will has not only seen YAZOO’s brand value reach a record high £60 million[1], he has helped bring to market one of the most significant pieces of innovation within the dairy drinks category – YAZOO KiDS, a no added sugar or artificial sweeteners product.
Prior to joining FrieslandCampina, Will was head of ecommerce at TUI Travel Plc. This background in online means he is well placed to drive growth in ecommerce too.
[1] IRI data, value sales, w/e 02.02.19
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