Dutch food retailer and foodservice operator Ahold yesterday [Tuesday] announced that Jose Maria Vara, president and CEO of Ahold Spain, is to step down after two years in the post effective 1 September 2002.
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He is succeeded by Gerard van Breen, currently senior VP, Ahold Global Sourcing at Ahold’s corporate headquarters in Zaandam.
Vara, 42, managed the integration process of a dozen Spanish retail companies into the Ahold group. This involved rebranding over 600 supermarkets and hypermarkets on the Spanish mainland and the Canary Islands. The first phase of this process has now been rounded off. In close concert with the Ahold corporate executive board, Vara has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests.
Van Breen, 45, brings to the job a background in sourcing, foodservice and consumer marketing. He has headed up the Global Sourcing department since 1 January 2000 and has leveraged significant synergies for the Ahold group. From 1996-1999, Van Breen was president and CEO at Deli XL, Ahold’s wholly-owned foodservice subsidiary in the Netherlands and Belgium, following three years as sales and marketing manager. He has also held management positions in the AMS marketing alliance, AC Restaurants and Colgate Palmolive.
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