The Bonduelle Group has announced the appointment of Xavier Unkovic as CEO of the Group. This appointment will take effect on June 1, 2023.
Until that date, Christophe Bonduelle, Chairman of the Board of Directors, will be responsible for the Group's general management.
Christophe Bonduelle, non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated: “The Board of Directors and I are convinced that in the demanding environment in which the company is evolving, Xavier Unkovic will successfully lead the next stage of Bonduelle's profitable development. Xavier Unkovic held senior management positions in the United States for 23 years, first with the Mars Group and then with Amy's kitchen, which he turned around and developed.”
Xavier Unkovic stated: “I am honoured to join and soon lead the Bonduelle Group. It is a company for which I have always had great admiration and respect for its pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, its ambition and its mission. I look forward to working with all the employees, the Executive Committee and the Board, in close collaboration with the Chairman, to meet the challenges facing Bonduelle and to write the next chapter of the group's development.”
Xavier Unkovic has 30 years of experience in the development of consumer goods businesses in the American, European and Asian markets. After starting his career in finance, sales and marketing, he became CEO of Royal Canin in the United States in 2000 and then in Canada in 2003. Xavier Unkovic then headed the Mars Group's Beverages division in 2010 for North America, and then for the world as of 2013.
In 2017, he became President and CEO of Amy's Kitchen, a BCorp-certified Californian company that markets a range of organic prepared meals. Since 2021, Xavier Unkovic has been the CEO of the French company NAOS, a major player in skin care and health, under the brands Bioderma, Institut Esthederm and Etat Pur.
The group is a French family business with 12,000 employees and have been innovating with farming partners since 1853. The ready-to-use products are grown on 70,000 hectares and marketed in 100 countries, with sales of €2,203 million. The company’s 4 brands include Bonduelle, Cassegrain, Globus and Ready Pac Bistro.
