New Insight Chief for McVitie's Owner pladis

Snacks company pladis has brought in former PepsiCo Asia Pacific Insights & Analytics Lead Geoff Painter as Chief Insights Officer, starting today.

pladis, formed in 2016 from the merger of Ulker and United Biscuits, is the company behind brands such as McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, and employs 17,000 people in 34 factories and 13 countries. 2017 annual revenue was £3.5bn.

Painter spent more than two decades at PepsiCo, with responsibility at different times for China, India, Asia Pacific, Australasia, and the UK and Ireland; and served as a member of the group's Global Insights Leadership Team. Before joining PepsiCo in the 1990s he spent three years at Millward Brown, latterly as an SRE, and eighteen months as a Consumer Insights Manager at Cadbury's.

In his new role, Painter will lead pladis' focus on growth, overseeing the leveraging of talent, skills and technology to find growth opportunities and use insights to develop market leading initiatives. CEO Salman Amin says of the hire: 'Geoff is a respected and proven, results-driven executive with 25 years of global consumer products experience across insights and analytics, strategic planning, innovation and brand building. He brings a rare combination of functional and commercial expertise honed through diverse international market and cultural exposure, including in both developed and emerging markets. His expertise will strengthen pladis' growth capabilities, bringing industry trends and the voice of the consumer to the forefront of our work'.

Web site: www.pladisglobal.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.