Leading confectionery manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle has appointed a new UK Financial Director. Anneli Reiter joins the company from Perrigo pharmaceuticals and comes to helm the Perfetti finance team at a very exciting time. They reached a sales milestone of £100m in Q4 of last year and their flagship sugar-free mint brand, Smint, is now worth £10m, making it the number one sugar free mint brand in the UK, superseding competitors and growing at three times the rate of the category.
Anneli started her career in her native Estonia, joining KPMG in 2001 before relocating to Birmingham and then Nottingham with the company, working primarily in external auditing and management assurance. After ten years with KPMG she moved to Britvic, working in cash and working capital management and then as Brand Finance Manager for Robinsons and Fruit Shoot before moving to Perrigo, where she progressed to Head of Commercial Finance. She joined the Perfetti Van Melle team in January 2023.
“Perfetti Van Melle is in a significant period of growth, and I am excited to step into my first directorship role at a time when I can effect meaningful change," said Reiter. "My goal is to use a holistic view of how the finance function fits into the overall business model to set a clear strategy that will steward this fast-paced growth to long-term benefits. Finance can sometimes be viewed as a support function, but I believe that it should be viewed as a business partner – and I know that this aligns with Perfetti Van Melle’s operational mentality.
“Even during my interview process I could tell Perfetti Van Melle is a wonderful company to work for. There is demonstrable passion and pride from employees at every level. Packaging innovations such as their industry-first Mentos Gum paperboard bottle and the recent change of Chupa Chups sticks from plastic to paper also proved to me that the company is also serious about their commitments to sustainability, which is an issue very close to my heart.
“Working with such famous household name brands was also a draw. When I was growing up in Estonia it was still part of the Soviet Union, so there was no advertising allowed. When that regime fell, the first advertising I saw was the Mentos ‘Freshmaker’ campaign – it was everywhere! So when this role came up, it really felt like a sign. I also now get to eat sweets at work every day – and what could be better than that?”
Jonny Briscoe, UK MD at Perfetti Van Melle, said: “We are delighted that Anneli has chosen to come on board at such a key time for us. The company continues to move from strength to strength, and Anneli is absolutely the right person to help lead the business through the next phase of our commercial success and beyond.
“Her appointment also brings our executive leadership team a step closer to gender parity, a vitally important piece of progress as we work continuously to make positive changes to the culture of the business.
“We’ve recently been awarded Top Employer status in the UK and Europe for the third year in a row. Perfetti Van Melle UK achieved 98.81% in an assessment criteria pillar centred around a demonstrably positive leadership and work environment, and almost 100% against the ‘organisation and change’ scoring criteria. These scores combine to improve on the company’s 2022 TE score by almost 10%, achieving results comparable to businesses twice our size.”
