Source: Perfetti Van Melle

Briscoe was former MD for Northern Europe at Mondelez

Perfetti Van Melle has hired Jonny Briscoe as its new UK MD.

Briscoe, formerly Mondelez MD for Northern Europe, has taken the helm of the sweets giant, replacing WHO.

At Mondelez he led the business’ chilled brands such as Philadelphia and Dairylea, having risen up the ranks from category planning leader to sales director before being promoted to MD.

Prior to that he worked for Procter & Gamble for nine years. 

He replaces Roel Nouws, who is moving to the business’ Dutch wing as global lead for sales and trade marketing.

Briscoe said he was “delighted to be joining such a people-focused and innovative business”.

”It’s no secret the last year has been a challenge to the categories in which we play, and I am looking forward to leading the UK business back to the consistent high levels of growth seen prior to 2020.”

His appointment comes on the back of a difficult year for the sugar confectionery category, which saw sales slump as impulse purchases ebbed away thanks to the pandemic.

This led to declines for several of Perfetti Van Melle’s biggest brands, such as Fruitella (down 4.4%), Mentos (down 7.9%), Chupa Chups (down 4.1%) and Smint (down 24.6%) [Nielsen 52 w/e 5 September 2020].