Lindt & Sprüngli strengthens management team on group level

Lindt & Sprüngli Group strengthens top level management with immediate effect. Andreas Pfluger, former member of the Extended Group Management, is appointed as a member of the Group Management. At the same time, Thomas Linemayr is promoted to the Extended Group Management. Consequently, the Group of companies has a broader and stronger management basis in view of the expanding internationalization of the business.

Andreas Pfluger started his career at Lindt & Sprüngli in 1994 as marketing director of Lindt & Sprüngli Switzerland. Three years later, he took over as CEO for the newly founded subsidiary in Australia, where he was in charge of the successful expansion in this new market. In 2001, he was appointed CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli France and in 2005 moved on to become CEO of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in California. In 2011, he was appointed to the newly established Extended Group Management and in this function he took over responsibility at Group level for the entire North American market as well as for Italy, Australia and China. In his new role as member of the Group Management, Andreas Pfluger will continue with his aforementioned responsibilities.

At the same time, Thomas Linemayr is appointed to the Extended Group Management. The career of Thomas Linemayr in the Lindt & Sprüngli Group began in 1995 as marketing and sales director at the German subsidiary in Aachen. In 1999, he became CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli USA in Stratham, NH, where he made a significant contribution in building up the LINDT brand in the world's biggest chocolate market. In the course of the very successful development of this market, the Stratham production site was repeatedly expanded to match the continuously rising demand for LINDT products. While Thomas Linemayr will continue to fulfill his position as CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli USA, he will from now on also assume strategic responsibility on top management level as a member of the Extended Group Management.

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