CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 64 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 FOOD & BEVERAGE GAVIN DARBY CEO of Premier Foods FIRM PROFILE We LOVE food at Premier Foods. We love how it brings people together and provides moments of pleasure in a busy world. And so do our consumers. Many of our brands have been part of UK life for more than a century, but we don’t let them stand still – we’re constantly innovating in line with our purpose to create the food our nation loves most for modern life. And today you’ll find our brands in 95% of British households1. A great British food company As one of Britain’s biggest listed food companies we’re committed to the UK, employing over 4,000 dedicated colleagues at 15 sites and offices up and down the country. Around 96% of what we sell is made in the UK from quality ingredients, wherever we can sourced sustainably from British suppliers and farmers. Our Business We operate primarily in the ambient food sector which continues to be the largest sector within the total £184.5bn UK grocery market2. Our Grocery business is responsible for developing our portfolio of brands in four key categories: Flavourings & Seasonings; Cooking Sauces & Accompaniments; Quick Meals, Snacks & Soups and Ambient Desserts. Our Sweet Treats business is responsible for growing our brands in the Ambient cakes category. Expanding internationally We’re also working hard to expand internationally by finding new markets for our brands around the world - our International business grew 25% in the financial period. We’re continuing to build momentum in Ireland and also responding to increasing consumer interest in a range of our brands such as Mr Kipling and Cadbury cake, Sharwood’s cooking sauces and Batchelors packet soups in a number of markets including Australia and the USA. Strategic partnerships In August 2017, we signed a new strategic global partnership with Mondelez International to renew the Company’s long-standing licence to produce and market Cadbury branded cake and ambient dessert poroducts. The new partnership will run until at least 2022, is expanded to cover 46 countries inclluding South Africa, Canada, Japan, China and India and has the potential to use the full range of Cadbury brands in ambient cake in addition to the Oreo brand. Since we entered into a co-operation agreement with Nissin in 2016 we’ve launched Batchelors Super Noodles in a new pot format using Nisisn’s noodle technology and manufacturing expertise, taken on distriubtion of Nissin’s Soba noodles and Cup Noodle brands in the UK and we’re now working with Nissin to further expand international opportunities for our brands using Nissin’s global network Customers Our key customers are the major UK supermarkets but we also serve a wide range of other channels including: discounters; convenience stores; online; wholesale; and food service. ABOUT GAVIN DARBY Gavin has a strong consumer goods pedigree and extensive senior leadership experience. He spent fifteen years at the Coca-Cola Company in various senior positions, including Division President roles for North West Europe and Central Europe. Prior to joining Premier Foods, Gavin served as CEO of Cable &WirelessWorldwide plc, leading a successful turnaround of the business before negotiating its eventual sale to Vodafone plc. Previously he worked at Vodafone plc for nine years, during which time he served as UK CEO and CEO of Americas, Africa, India and China. Gavin is President of The Food and Drink Federation.