Cadbury-owner Mondelēz has appointed Reckitt’s hygiene president Volker Kuhn as executive vice president for Europe to accelerate growth in the region.

Kuhn will replace Vinzenz Gruber, who is retiring from the company, on 6 January 2025 and will report directly to chair and chief executive Dirk Van de Put.

He joins Mondelēz from Reckitt where he delivered top and bottom-line performance acceleration, driven by innovation, consumer centricity and category growth as hygiene president, and formally served as the FMCG giant’s chief transformation officer.

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Before Reckitt, Kuhn spent 26 years with Procter & Gamble, where his experience spanned multiple consumer product categories, including 10 years leading the Pringles snacks division in Europe.

Van de Put said: “We’re delighted to welcome Volker Kuhn to our Mondelēz International family. 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.”

Speaking of Gruber’s departure, Van de Put added: “On behalf of Team Mondelēz, 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.”