Mondelēz installs new management at Clif following $2.9bn acquisition
Mondelēz International completed the acquisition of Clif Bar & Company, a leading US maker of nutritious energy bars with organic ingredients, in August 2022.
The bolt-on expanded Mondelēz’s global snack bar business to more than $1bn, with Clif’s portfolio – Clif, Clif Kid and Luna – complementing its US refrigerated snacking business Perfect Snacks and its UK performance nutrition business Grenade.
Mondelēz continues to operate the Clif Bar business from its headquarters in Emeryville, California, along with its two plants in Idaho and Indiana, but is swapping out the management team.
Collaborative relationship
A Mondelēz spokesperson confirmed that Grimes will be stepping down at the end of February.
Moving into the seat – in the renamed role as president – is Alexandre Zingliara, who has been leading the integration of Clif into the snacking major.
“Sally is an incredible business leader. She and Alex have had a very collaborative relationship in supporting the integration and continue to work closely together,” said Laura Guzzinati, VP of corporate and government affairs for Mondelēz.
Prior to this, Zigliara spent a year as senior VP and GM of strategic growth channels at Mondelēz. He also spent more than 17 years at Coca-Cola in a variety of leadership roles around the world, including president and GM of its business in Italy and Albania.
Help the business move forward
Several other Clif executives are also set to leave the company. A new leadership team was announced internally, but details still remain disclosed, expected to be introduced over the next few months.
“I would highlight that the leadership team moving forward for the business absolutely has a number of individuals who have been incredible talent within the Clif organisation who will continue on to help carry the Clif business moving forward,” said Guzzinati.
On LinkedIn, Zigliara posted, “I am humbled by the honour to lead such a talented team with such a deep passion for Clif’s purpose and culture and raising the bar.
“I am super excited for us to take this very special brand and business to new heights.”
Incremental returns
In its 2022 annual earnings report, the Oreo and Ritz maker posted a 9.7% revenue increase for the year, to $31.5bn, primarily driven by incremental net revenues of $351m from its acquisitions of Clif Bar, along with Chipita and Ricolino.
"Our 2022 results demonstrate the strength and diversification of our portfolio as we delivered broad-based growth in terms of regions, categories, and brands,” said Dirk van de Put, chairman and CEO of Mondelēz, in the January earnings call with analysts.
“These results were underscored by continued strength in emerging and developed markets as well as solid contributions from our recently acquired businesses.
“We made significant progress against our strategy of accelerating growth and focusing our portfolio in the attractive, resilient categories of chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks, while continuing to invest in our brands and capabilities.”
