Hanze

University of Groningen

Executive Management Consultant at Meatless Farm

📌 Established the company's New York office and assembled a North American team of 13 full-time employees, comprising individuals specialized in Sales, Marketing/Public Relations, Supply Chain, Product Development, and Finance. Since a dedicated team wasn't enough to truly thrive, I contributed to the development of leadership programs that aligned with the company's operational strategy. And since a company's success isn't only about the present but also the future, I accelerated business growth by utilizing needs and gap analysis, focus groups, corporate mission goals found through research, and evaluation methods to propose or enhance business expansion activities. 

📌 Related to brand expansion and marketing, we approached each action with the company's mission in mind to achieve success. I evaluated various projects' feasibility to fit the company's mission, brand strategy, and ROI and balanced this evaluation against resource utilization and costs to expand the operations in North America. Crafted visionary blueprints for cross-company initiatives, thus unlocking new horizons for the business,

📌 Highlights: 
✔️Achieved substantial revenue growth through effective leadership and strategy execution; in the 1st year, generated over $6.5M in revenue, and in the 2nd year, further increased the revenue to $10M, thus achieving a clear track record of financial success. 
✔️Implemented a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for retail, food service, and online channels,  achieving a 65% YoY revenue increase and successfully attaining business objectives. 
✔️Successfully launched Meatless Farm’s products portfolio in national and regional grocery retailers, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Albertsons, Safeway, Hannaford, Wakefern, Southeastern Grocers, and Lidl.
✔️Revolutionized the iconic American hotdog brand "Nathan's Famous" and launched the first-ever plant-based hotdog, available in 40 restaurants and nationwide via Goldbelly.

Meatless Farm

CEO North America

📌 Led the charge of bringing the Lidl US concept to life. From its initial spark of inspiration to its grand unveiling, I drew upon my wealth of experience to craft a visionary commercial and go-to-market strategy that propelled the brand to new heights in this new market. 

📌 Working closely with the CEO, we revolutionized the Lidl framework, adapting a Europe-based business model to cater to the unique needs of American consumers. I leveraged my skills in building and developing relationships and strategic thinking in assortment building to craft the North American Supplier Network from scratch, with a solid regional presence on the East Coast (DE, GA, NY, NJ, NC, SC, PA, and VA).

📌 Managed all aspects of the department with 9 direct reports and oversaw a team of 290 full-time employees, executing functions such as procuring food, non-food items, fresh produce, managing marketing, packaging design, promotional campaigns, contract management, purchasing systems, quality insurance, food regulatory compliance, and import/export.

📌With my commercial leadership, we successfully established Lidl as a top player in the American retail market, with a strong focus on providing high-quality products and services to customers.

Highlights: 
✔️Conquered the US market with a bold and ambitious plan, launching over 100 stores and hiring over 3,000 employees within 5 years, resulting in a staggering $1B+ revenue.
✔️Nurtured a unique product assortment of 2k items, ensuring they upheld the corporate promise of delivering the highest quality at the lowest price.
✔️Embarked on an acquisition journey, securing 27 "Best Market" stores on Long Island and NYC, expertly navigated the transition from "Best Market" to the Lidl banner while seamlessly integrating suppliers and product offerings.
✔️Recognized the need to bridge cultural differences between the US and European (German) work ethics and engagement and took the necessary steps to align them.

Lidl US

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)/ Executive Vice President 

✔️Revitalized the company's quality-price proposition, propelling us to a significantly improved market position. 
✔️Invested heavily in key strategic categories to deliver on this promise and expertly led a transformation in our marketing strategy, including revamping organization, agency management, execution, and measurement.
✔️Undertook a bold restructuring of the purchasing organization and team to support the company's transition from a hard discounter to a fresh discounter model. 
✔️Transformed the commercial division through visionary leadership and a bold approach to management, resulting in a significant increase in revenue and market share while driving a culture of innovation and continuous improvement throughout the organization.

Lidl Belgium & Luxemburg GmbH

Chief Commercial Officer / Executive Vice President 

✔️Underwent a rigorous internal international training program to prepare for a C-suite position in Belgium, honing my leadership and strategic thinking skills.
✔️Collaborated closely with the CEO and CCO of Lidl Spain, gaining invaluable insights into the scope of responsibilities and tasks at the highest level of corporate management.

LIDL Supermercados

Director of Purchasing

✔️Selected, managed, and monitored supplier performance to establish long-term strategic partnerships, introduce a whole new take on the dairy and cheese assortment, and prevent unanticipated cost escalation.
✔️	Negotiated contracts with key suppliers to ensure cost efficiency, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), minimal LIDL risk, and industry regulations compliance through partnerships with the Legal department.

Lidl Nederland

Purchasing Manager

✔️Conducted sourcing projects by engaging team members and the required resources to meet business objectives; constantly sought best practices, cost reduction, and improvement opportunities through cross-functional group collaboration.
✔️	Streamlined purchase requisition processes for maximum efficiency and implemented meticulous follow-through and record-keeping for budget expense reports.

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