Welcome to Procurement News, part of our ongoing aggregate news series covering recent supply management headlines and trends pertinent to Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement leaders! Contact us with your news story here.
Procurement Executive News
Veho Names Ronak Patel Senior Vice President of Supply Chain
NEW YORK — Veho announced the appointment of Ronak Patel as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain. Patel will lead Veho’s supply chain organization, including network design and optimization, sortation operations, transportation, and linehaul.
The company stated that Patel brings more than 15 years of experience building, launching, and optimizing complex supply chains. During nearly nine years at Amazon, he held leadership roles spanning fulfillment, international launches, regional operations, and last-mile logistics. As Regional Director of Operations, he led six major fulfillment centers with more than 20,000 employees. He later led Amazon Logistics’ North American Fleet Management organization, responsible for approximately 99,000 delivery vehicles and $2.7 billion in physical assets.
According to Fred Cook, Co-Founder and President of Veho, “Ronak is an experienced operator, but what stood out to us is his experience driving cost and quality consistency, at scale, through periods of rapid growth,” he said.
“Veho is entering a new stage where the sophistication of our physical network has to advance just as quickly as the technology behind it. Ronak is exactly the kind of operator we want helping lead that evolution.”
Read the full announcement here.
Daniele Rossi Joins Electrolux Group as Head of Procurement
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Electrolux Group announced that Daniele Rossi joined the company as its new Head of Procurement.
When asked what attracted him to the role, Rossi responded: “What excites me about Electrolux Group is the combination of its rich heritage, seen in its comprehensive product portfolio and global brand equity, and its forward-looking strategic transformation. I firmly believe that procurement is central to unlocking the value needed for this next chapter, and I want to help to lead this.”
In terms of procurement’s opportunity to support the company’s wider goals, Rossi said, “As a function, we will further leverage Electrolux Group’s global scale to drive structural efficiency and cost leadership and develop the next generation of global leaders to drive success within procurement across the company.
“We will also focus more on unlocking our suppliers’ innovation potential to co-develop cutting-edge, sustainable products.”
The company said Rossi has over 30 years of experience in procurement, supply chain, quality, product development, and leadership roles. Most recently, he was Chief Procurement Officer for Italian steel company Acciaierie d’Italia (formerly ILVA).
Read the full announcement here.
Spark Minda Appoints New Chief Procurement Officer
NOIDA, UTTAR PRADESH, India — Spark Minda has named Geetika Mishra Chief Procurement Officer, Group Corporate Office, according to a post on Mishra’s LinkedIn page.
In this role, Mishra will lead Group Materials and oversee key areas including sourcing strategy, supplier ecosystem development, cost competitiveness, electronics, process automation, and procurement capability building. The appointment comes as Spark Minda continues to focus on strengthening its procurement capabilities and supporting its broader business priorities.
Commenting on the appointment, she said, “I’m pleased to join Spark Minda and look forward to understanding the business, its people, and its priorities more closely. Every organization has its own strengths, ways of working, and challenges. My immediate priority will be to listen and learn, engage with the teams, understand different perspectives, and identify the opportunities where we can create meaningful business impact.”
Prior to joining Spark Minda, Mishra spent more than 18 years with Motherson Group, where she held increasingly senior responsibilities across businesses, geographies, and teams. During that tenure, Mishra gained extensive experience managing complex procurement and business priorities while working across a diverse global organization.
Mondelēz Names Zakaria Dahkoun Its Chief Procurement Officer
CHICAGO — Mondelēz International promoted Zakaria Dahkoun to Chief Procurement Officer, as confirmed by Mondelēz’s Desiree Battaglia, global media relations manager, in an email to Supply Chain Dive.
The company stated that Dahkoun most recently served as SVP of cocoa enterprise for the company behind brands such as Oreo and Chips Ahoy. He has also held other sourcing leadership positions across his more than 13 years with Mondelēz, including SVP of global direct materials sourcing.
“His experience covers end-to-end procurement across diverse categories and geographies,” Battaglia said, noting that Dahkoun has more than 21 years of procurement expertise overall.
Ocean Spray Strengthens Executive Team, Naming Brad Hartzell CSCO and Kevin Zidron Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer
LAKEVILLE, Mass. — Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., the agricultural cooperative owned by roughly 700 family farmers, announced the appointments of Brad Hartzell as Chief Supply Chain Officer and Kevin Zidron as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer.
The company said the appointments come as Ocean Spray enters its annual cranberry harvest season and president and CEO Abigail Buckwalter advances key priorities following her first several months leading the cooperative. Together, Zidron and Hartzell will strengthen Ocean Spray’s strategy, transformation, supply chain and operational capabilities as the cooperative enters its next phase of growth.
According to Buckwalter, “At Ocean Spray, we have an iconic brand, an extraordinary fruit, a strong cooperative foundation and talented people across our business,” she said. “Our focus now is on bringing those strengths together with greater clarity, pace and discipline to accelerate growth and unlock our full potential.
“We have an opportunity to build on what makes Ocean Spray unique while creating the capabilities needed for our next chapter. Kevin and Brad bring the leadership and expertise to help us move faster, sharpen execution and deliver on our priorities,” Buckwalter added.
