Stewart Dryburgh, currently Nestlé Global Category Leader KitKat & Countlines, is to become General Manager at Nestlé International Travel Retail (a role he held previously), effective from 1 April.
He succeeds Devrim Cöbek who has been named Country Manager for Nestlé Myanmar.
Dryburgh joined Nestlé in the UK in 1998, before assuming various senior commercial positions within the company in Europe and Asia, including at NITR until late 2005. In that role he revealed an ambitious vision to double the size of the confectionery category, and was a strong advocate of Trinity partnerships in the industry. He played a key role in the first Trinity Forum back in 2003, notably in convincing then Nestlé Vice-Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe to deliver a riveting opening address that still ranks as the seminal conference presentation in travel retail history, titled ‘Long-term vision over short term imperatives’.
Nestlé noted the role that Dryburgh has played in “accelerating the growth of KitKat to become the number two chocolate brand globally”. It added in a statement: “Stewart has been instrumental in guiding the successful launch of KitKat in Latin America, the development of a retail platform for the brand in Japan and establishing KitKat as one of the world’s leading FMCG brands in digital marketing.”
“I’m delighted to be rejoining NITR and continuing to grow our business in the dynamic travel retail channel. I look forward to working closely with NITR’s business partners to develop and implement strategies that will excite and engage travellers across the globe,” said Dryburgh.
He will attend the upcoming TFWA Asia Pacific show in Singapore in May (Stand B2/K29).
