Russian Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods has announced a new corporate structure and management positions that went into effect on 1 March 2008. The existing Dairy and Baby Food business units will be combined into a single structure: Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods.

The company has grown significantly over the last two years while it has been simplifying its legal structure. It has halved its number of legal entities from 68 to 34 and centralised some key functions such as procurement, key account management, legal and information technology. A new entity, WBD International, will develop and accelerate activities in Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus region and exports to the rest of the world.
Commenting on the changes, Tony Maher, CEO of Wimm-Bill-Dann, says: “This restructuring will reduce the number of layers of management and will make the company leaner and more efficient. While we have exploited many synergies over the past number of years, we see additional opportunities that will make us an even stronger force in the marketplace.”
Effective 1 March 2008, Oleg Kuzmin assumed the position of vice president for operations and Grant Winterton became vice president for sales. Gary Sobel took over the role of vice president for marketing and innovation.