Kellogg's, the global breakfast cereals giant, has appointed Ruth Hughes to lead its Irish operations in place of long-standing managing director Jim McNeill, who has retired.
Ms Hughes has worked at Kellogg’s for more than a decade and during this time held a number of senior roles across the cereal and snack giant’s Irish, British and European operations.
She joined the company in 2008 as a national account manager serving Kellogg’s Irish retail customers. Senior roles in the company included a stint working in the UK managing the Kellogg’s business with major British retailers Asda and Morrisons.
Most recently she held the position of sales director, European sales capability, with responsibility for overseeing the training and development of all sales teams across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Ms Hughes started her career at Batchelors before joining Boyne Valley Group as a business manager.
As head of Kellogg’s Ireland, she will oversee a team of 30 who manage all aspects of the company’s commercial operations to sell and supply its foods across the Republic.
Kellogg’s, which first started selling its foods in Ireland in 1924, now employees more than 200 people at a campus in north Dublin which is the location of the company’s Irish in-market operations as well as its European headquarters.
The company recently made the headlines when it was reported the group routed €1.1 billion of international sales through one of its Irish units, Kellogg Europe Trading (KET), in 2016,
KET is used as a conduit for sales from Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Kellogg’s, whose brands include Rice Krispies and Coco Pops.
