The Glarus-based chocolate manufacturer Läderach is focusing on further growth and has appointed two women to its management team.

As of September 1, 39-year-old Yvonne Breier will start as Chief Marketing Officer. She has extensive experience in the industry. Most recently, she was Head of Marketing and a member of the Executive Board at Kägi. She succeeds Patrick Farinato, who left the company at the end of February. Since then, Elias Läderach has been managing the marketing division on an interim basis.

44-year-old Barbara Wieser is joining the chocolate manufacturer from her own executive search company Digitalheads, whose operational activities she is handing over to new hands. From August 1, she will be responsible for HR, corporate communications and sustainability management at Läderach. This position on the Executive Board has been newly created in order to "better reflect the increasing importance of these core topics", according to the statement.

With the new dual appointment, Läderach's Executive Board now consists of CMO Yvonne Breier, Chief HR, Sustainability and Communications Officer Barbara Wieser, CEO Johannes Läderach, Chief Innovation Officer Elias Läderach, CFO Marco Heyn, COO Laurens van den Berg and CSO Nathanael Hausmann.

The proven communications professional has headed Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Coca-Cola Switzerland for the past 12 years and has a comprehensive track record in the areas of reputation management, media relations, corporate and marketing communications, public affairs and social & digital communications.

Before joining Coca-Cola, Matthias Schneider worked in various national and international organizations such as Switzerland Tourism, Credit Suisse, Feldschlösschen and British American Tobacco in different communications and marketing roles. The experienced communications manager holds an Executive Master in Communications Management as well as two CAS in Political & Public Affairs and General Management.

The most important priority for Schneider in the coming months, in addition to the aforementioned external communication, will be the further development of the internal communication strategy. This is intended to take account of the rapidly growing international organization and workforce in terms of communication.

Following the first global Corona shutdown last year, the chocolate manufacturer Läderach Chocolatier Suisse has repositioned itself to return to its previous growth path. In addition to the expansion of the international branch network, the flagship store "House of Läderach" in Bilten GL and the takeover of the leases of 34 Godiva locations in the USA, Läderach has invested in strengthening the brand as well as digital distribution channels.

"We want to offer our customers a special customer experience with our fresh, high-quality chocolate products, both on-site and digitally, and thus take advantage of future growth opportunities in the premium segment. With Patrick Farinato, we have been able to attract a personality to our team who brings international experience from various industries and will help us not only to implement the growth strategy we have embarked on, but to accelerate it," says Johannes Läderach, CEO, Läderach Chocolatier Suisse.

Patrick Farinato has many years of international experience in the areas of brand management, marketing, communications and digitalization. Most recently, he was responsible for the global investment house Vontobel as worldwide Head of Marketing & Analytics and member of the current Global Executive Board.