The international logistics service provider, JF Hillebrand Group, is pleased to announce the appointments of Thomas Barfoed and Laura Montilla as, respectively, Area Director of North America and Area Director Latin America as of July 1st 2017.
MAINZ, 24th July 2017. The company is splitting its former Americas Area into two clusters with dedicated resources to strengthen local expertise, spur growth and further strategic development in targeted markets. Thomas Barfoed and Laura Montilla assume the positions of Area Director of North America and Area Director Latin America at JF Hillebrand Group as of July 1st, succeeding Jean Jacques Francoulon, Area Director Americas, who will retire at the ens of this year after 21 years with the company.
North America is a key market for JF Hillebrand. By volume, the USA is the largest market for wine concumption globally and is ranked 4th for wine production, representing 9% of the world’s total in the 2017. JF Hillebrand moves 2.5 million bottles of wine, beer and spirits per day into, out of, and across the USA.
Thomas Barfoed, former Country Manager USA for JF Hillebrand Group is appointed Area Director for North America, it regroups the USA, Canada and Mexico. In the 17 years he has been with the company, Thomas has held various leadership roles in key wine and spirits markets – starting first in his home country of Denmark, then Russia, Chile, Canada and now in the USA.
Christophe Bernard, CEO JF Hillebrand Group said: “In his previous roles Thomas demonstrated strong leadership, relentless drive for business development and very good analytical skills making him the ideal person to lead an Area with such a significant potential.”
Chile and Argentina together represent over 7% of the world’s wine production. The company currently ships more than 55 000 containers per year.
Laura Montilla, is appointed Area Director for Latin America which regroups Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the Caribbean. In the 20 years she has been with the company, Laura has held leadership roles including Country Manager Chile and Country Manager Argentina.
Christophe Bernard, CEO JF Hillebrand Group said: “Laura has been part of the team that built JF Hillebrand Argentina right from the start. Under her leadership our Argentinean office grew significantly to become market leader. Over the years Laura has proven to be a well- rounded leader with a strong drive for results. Her hands-on and customer focused approach will no doubt be of great value to the entire Area.”