New face at head of sweet empire with West Yorkshire factories

A new head of family sweets company Haribo has been appointed.

Jon Hughes is now the managing director of Haribo UK and Ireland, the market leading confectionery manufacturer that employs more than 700 team members in its two West Yorkshire factories.

His appointment follows the promotion of Herwig Vennekens who headed the Haribo UK and Ireland team for 10 years, before taking up the position of managing director of the Haribo Holding, responsible for sales and marketing globally.

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Jon, the former sales director for Haribo UK and Ireland, said: “It’s a great privilege to be appointed to the role of managing director for such a fun and iconic brand.

“I am very much looking forward to working with our teams in the UK and in Ireland to support the continued growth of the business by driving the category forward in a responsible way.”

Herwig Vennekens added: “We are pleased to welcome Jon to the role of managing director. Having supported the success of our business through his sales director role, we believe he is ideally placed to lead the UK and Ireland team. Jon will be instrumental as we maintain our market leading position and support the continued growth of the Haribo brand and business.”

Jon previously worked on introducing Haribo’s new sugar reduced line Fruitilicious, supported the relaunch of Super Mix, and the opening of the first Haribo Shop in London.

Having studied at London Business School, he worked for FMCG businesses including Kimberley Clark Corporation, Heineken UK and Red Bull UK. Haribo, has manufactured sweets for almost 100-years.