Cristina Kenzuntil now Chief Growth Officer of Kraft Heinz, has joined the global sustainability consultancy Anthesis Group as Chief Operating Officer. He will report directly to Stuart McLachlan, Founder and CEO of the company; and will carry out his duties from London, in the United Kingdom.
“This new leadership path combines my passion for sustainability, my dedication to team growth and well-being, and my obsession with generating impact through global business growth.”Kenz commented through LinkedIn. “Anthesis has become the world’s leading science-based, digitally enabled and purpose-driven guide for businesses seeking to engage world-class experts to build a more sustainable future for all.“.
“I am very grateful and, in fact, I leave with sadness“, commented Cristina Kenz in statements to reason.Why. “But when I look back I feel very happy to have driven the transformation in a ship as big as Heinz and specifically with the impact we had on business and planet”.
“When I look back I am happy to have driven the transformation of Heinz”
As he details, at the business level Kraft Heinz managed to grow by double digits, gain market share with Heinz, its main brand, and develop consumption in new areas, such as e-commerce. On the other hand, at the personal level it grew in engagement and impact, and it assures that it did so with innovation and creativity, as demonstrated by the awards won in the latest editions of Cannes Lions. It also grew in positive impact on the planet, promoting regenerative agriculture and net zero efforts.
Anthesis is part of the investment company The Carlyle Group and offers innovative digital solutions aimed at empowering companies to act as a positive force for both the planet and society.
The company’s own activity was one of the main issues that led it to make the change. “I had a very great concern to get closer to sustainability. And of the options that I considered, the one that impacted me from a holistic point of view was Anthesis. It is a very interesting company with many possibilities to contribute.”, he tells us. “This is new territory for me, and I am also attracted to the intellectual challenge. It is a big position and that will allow me to make big changes. It also has a vertigo point, but I really want to”.
With this movement Cristina Kenz has put an end to a period of more than four years as part of Kraft Heinz. He has taken the opportunity to take stock and thank the support and work of all the professionals with whom he has worked. She has been proud of the growth and transformation achieved in the company.
Three decades of experience
Cristina Kenz has a degree in Communication Sciences and has training in leadership, marketing and digital strategy. He has developed his professional career over more than three decades in various positions both on the agency and advertiser sides, and also at national and international level.
In 1994 he joined the team of Singleton Ogilvy & Mather assuming the responsibilities of Account Executive & Planning Assistant for KFC; and five years later he joined Gray Group in Barcelona as Global Strategic Planner and Client Service Director for Seat (Volkswagen Group).
In 2004, as part of the agency team BBDOserved as European Client Service Director for Pepsico Snacks, a position from which he led successful international creative projects for brands such as Lay’s, Doritos, Quaker and Cheetos. Three years later he made the leap to the advertiser side, precisely as Group Marketing Director of PepsiCo Snacks Iberia, and later in the position of Global Global Marketing Officer of Lay’s, which he developed from New York.
After almost nine years in the company, he returned to Barcelona in 2016 to join Danone as General Marketing Manager for Spain and Vice President of Marketing for Southern Europe. During this stage he was also part of the Danone European Council.
In 2020 it became part of Kraft Heinz as Chief Growth & Sustainability Officer. This last stage has been combined with his responsibilities as a member of the board of the investment firm. Cinven.
In addition, Cristina has been part of the Jury Club and was President of the Jury at the 2019 Eficacia Awards.