Cadbury executives begin to jump ship

Mark Reckitt is the most senior executive left at Cadbury within Kraft. Reckitt has, alongside Kraft’s Tim Cofer, been leading the integration of Kraft and Cadbury, and was the only Cadbury member to report directly to Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft’s CEO.

One former Cadbury executive said that Reckitt’s resignation will be a blow for Kraft: "He has a huge profile in the Cadbury organization and he was a big symbol of Kraft's promise to keep the 'best of both' [of Kraft and Cadbury]."

The announcement follows the resignation of Cadbury’s UK Marketing Director Phil Rumbol last month, while other Cadbury executives rumored to be leaving include Lee Rolston, Global Cadbury Brand Director; Murray McGowan, Global Commercial Strategy Director; Sanjay Purohit, Cadbury's Asia-Pacific Head for Chocolates and Geoff Whyte, Commercial Director of Cadbury Africa, Middle East.

Reckitt, who will continue to work one day a week as a consultant for Green & Blacks chocolate, reportedly left the company rather than relocate to Chicago.

"Mark's former strategy role at Cadbury was redundant, and any future senior role at Kraft Foods would entail relocation to Chicago. For various family reasons, Mark is unable to relocate," Kraft said yesterday. "Mark has done a great job and our integration plans are on track. Our first-quarter results demonstrate that we've maintained the momentum in our base businesses as we integrate our operations."

Read how the Cadbury Kraft takeover happened in Food & Drink Digital

Edited by Ellie Duncan

Link: http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/home/index.aspx