Chupa Chups chief takes Masterfoods job

Masterfoods has appointed Chupa Chups global chief executive and general manager Juan José Perez de Cuesta as European president for snackfood. He will take over the role early next year.

It is understood that Perez de Cuesta will take over from Fiona Dawson, who has returned to the UK to become managing director of Masterfoods’ UK snack business. It is thought that he will have a wider role than Dawson, who was vice-president of European marketing for snackfood. He will report to Pierre Laubies, president of Masterfoods for western Europe.

It is not know how long Perez de Cuesta was at Chupa Chups. The lollipop company has handed Georgio Maritan the general manager role. It is thought to be an internal promotion.

Masterfoods is undergoing a major restructure, which is expected to lead to a number of redundancies across its marketing teams (MW March 17). The appointment of Perez de Cuesta is being seen as a signal that Masterfoods intends to continue to organise its marketing around categories rather than regions.

The company is expected to make redundancies over the coming months but is in consultation with staff across a number of departments. The restructure will affect staff in the UK, Germany and France and will see 700 jobs cut.