Russian juice and dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods has announced the appointment of Jacques Ioffe as deputy CEO for strategy and business development.


“The appointment of Ioffe to this newly created position reflects the company’s strategic objective of enhancing operating efficiency and management of resources through the in-depth integration of group subsidiaries,” the company said.


Ioffe, who as deputy CEO will report to CEO Sergei Plastinin, comes to Wimm-Bill-Dann from French dairy giant Groupe Danone, where he headed up Danone’s Russian operations.


Last year merger talks between Wimm-Bill-Dann and Danone collapsed without a deal being reached.