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Christian Vonthron (left) is taking early retirement, but will still be available for future project work. He will be replaced by Martin Kaufmann (right) on 1 September | |
SWITZERLAND. Christian Vonthron, a familiar and highly respected figure in the industry, is to step down from his role as Senior Vice President Europe and Global Travel Retail at cigar maker Oettinger Davidoff.
He will be replaced by Martin Kaufmann, who joins from The Estée Lauder Companies, effective on 1 September. Davidoff also announced that Head Europe Albert Manzone will be leaving the company.
Vonthron, who launched the Duty Free department at Oettinger Davidoff in 1997, is taking early retirement but will still undertake future project work for the company. He will also continue as its representative on the board of the Tax Free World Association until the 2015 TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in October.
Kaufmann served as Senior Vice President and General Manager North America for Aveda while at Estée Lauder, and previously held a number of roles at the Gillette Company, where his last position was Business Unit Director DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) for Braun.
He continued at Procter & Gamble after the acquisition of Gillette, serving first as Global Marketing Director Braun Male Grooming, before taking on other positions.
Oettinger Davidoff CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard said: “With a track record of transformative leadership in branded consumer goods in global and regional roles, I am confident that Martin Kaufmann will make a significant contribution to accelerate growth in Europe as well as in global duty free. With this combined new key role in my senior team we will be better equipped for our future challenges and continue our company’s transformation.”
Manzone has served at Oettinger Davidoff for three years, with the company praising his “significant contribution to the European business”.
