Former Mars, Mondelēz executive joins Ocado’s board

Ocado Group has announced that Julia M Brown has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 January 2023.

She served as the Chief Procurement Officer of Mars Wrigley until 2021, having previously held senior roles at Carnival Corporation, Mondelēz International, and Kraft Foods. Ocado noted that Brown brings a wealth of experience in strategic procurement across diverse consumer products and significant leadership experience in global supply chain operations.

Rick Haythornthwaite, chairman of Ocado, commented: “Her experience as a senior executive at some of the world’s most important consumer-facing companies, as well as her extensive board experience, will strengthen further our corporate governance and oversight, helping us navigate the current macro challenges and take advantage of our substantial, and increasing growth opportunities.”

Tim Steiner, chief executive officer, said, “Julia’s breadth of business experience, and her deep understanding of the North American consumer in particular, will be hugely valuable to us as we progress through a period of rapid growth, successfully rolling out the Ocado Smart Platform, innovating at pace, and helping partners around the world take advantage of continued strong growth in e-commerce. I am very excited to welcome her to the Board”.