Chief Executive Officer (also Board member)

Mr. Adolfo Valsecchi - Aged 68, Mr. Valsecchi has an engineering background. His professional life has been dedicated to the Seafood industry for more than 35 years. He ran the N° 2 Canned Seafood Business in Italy for more than 20 years and was an active member of several working groups in the EU Commission in Brussels. In 1996 he joined H.J. Heinz and in 1999 became Managing Director of the Heinz Seafood Business in Europe, today MWBrands.

 

 

 

 

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Jean-Luc Pardessus - Aged 49, Mr. Pardessus joined MWBrands in September 2008 as COO. He started his career as a marketer with Unilever and then held various Managing Director positions for 17 years in international groups (Reckitt Benckiser, Bongrain, Campbell soup). He also served on the Board of the French Food and Drinks association (ANIA) and chaired different European Trade Organizations. Mr. Pardessus is a graduate from HEC School of Management.

 

 

 

 

Chief Financial Officer

Mrs. Muriel Roquejeoffre - Aged 37, Mrs. Roquejeoffre joined MWBrands in May 2006 as France Finance Director. She was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer in September 2007. Mrs. Roquejeoffre started her career with KPMG and then held various CFO positions in international groups (Close Brothers, Morse). Mrs. Roquejeoffre is a graduate from HEC School of Management and holds an MSc Degree in Finance from the London School of Economics.

 

 

 

 

 

General secretary

Mr. David Sankowicz - Aged 41, Mr. Sankowicz joined H.J. Heinz in May 2005 and is now acting as Group Legal Affairs & Insurance Manager within MWBrands. Prior to joining Heinz, Mr. Sankowicz worked in industry in France (SIDEL) as well as in a Direct Marketing company (Consodata) where he was in charge of the IPO. He began his career in a fashion company (Naf Naf – Chevignon). He is a graduate from Queen Mary and Westfield College, London University in European comparative law, has a master in Arbitration from Paris 2 University and his French bar certificate. 

 

 

 

 

Purchasing and Fleet Director

Mr. Philippe Gourel de Saint Pern - Aged 53, Philippe Gourel de Saint Pern joined Ets Paul Paulet 8 years ago as the Fish Procurement Director, in charge of supplying fish to our canneries. In 2002, in addition to fish purchasing, he took the responsibility of TTV Limited, the company in charge of managing our own fleet in Ghana. He has been appointed Purchasing and Fleet director since July 2009. Philippe is a specialist in fish procurement and all customs related matters. Before joining Ets Paul Paulet, Philippe was the Supply Chain Director of Pêche & Froid S.A. after being the plant manager of the same company in Abidjan.  

 

  

 

 

Manufacturing Director

Mr. Alain Olivieri - Aged 54, Mr. Olivieri is the manufacturing director of MWBrands (responsible for Quality and R&D) since July 2009. Mr. Olivieri joined MWBrands in February 2007 acting as technical director also interim General Manager at IOT (Indian Ocean Tuna), our plant in Victoria, Seychelles. During his 29 years of Food industry experience prior to MWBrands he held several Manufacturing and R&D positions at UNIQ Plc, Mars Inc and Générale Sucrière within several European countries. Mr. Olivieri is a Mechanical Engineer from the INSA of Lyon and has a MBA from the University of Aix en Provence. 

 

 

 

 

Supply Chain Director

Mr. Anthony R. Lazazzara - Aged 50, Mr. Lazazzara has been the MWBrands Supply Chain Director since March 2006 when the company was created. Mr. Lazazzara has more than 16 years experience in the seafood sector. Since the early 1990s he has held various roles in Supply Chain including Heinz European Seafoods, Palmera and Starkist. He started his career as Senior Engineer in an Italian Engineering company in food plant design and installation. Mr. Lazazzara holds a degree in Engineering from University of Bari (Italy) and is member of the Italian Association of Engineers.

 

 

 

 

John West Managing Director

Mr. Stephen Thorpe - Aged 52, Mr. Thorpe joined MWBrands in 2008. Prior to joining, Mr. Thorpe has been Managing Director of Mission Foods Europe and also Del Monte Foods International. With over 30 years international food and beverage experience, he started his career as a marketing trainee with Unilever and has also worked in large organizations such as Nabisco and Cadbury Schweppes. He is a graduate of Oxford University. 

 

 

 

 

  

France Business and Europe Marketing Director

Mr. Amaury Dutreil - Aged 37, Mr. Dutreil joined MWBrands in May 2009. He began his career at Nestlé France where he held various sales and marketing positions. He spent 9 years at Campbell France where his last position was Key account Director then France marketing Director. Mr. Dutreil is a graduate from HEC School of Management. 

 

 

 

 

Human Resources Director

Mrs. Joanne Carlin - Aged 35, Mrs Carlin joined John West Foods Ltd in April 2006 with responsibility for UK, Holland and Ireland.  She became Human Resources Director for the Group in April 2009.  She began her career with CarnaudMetalbox, where she held various positions within the HR function over a six-year period.  She then moved onto Honeywell UK Ltd based in Lancashire, UK, firstly supporting the production facility and then later leading the HR function for their European Engineers over two sites.  Mrs Carlin holds Graduate Membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.