Zespri has appointed Ichiro Anzai as its new Japanese country manager. Anzai comes to Zespri from McDonald’s Japan, where he was part of the senior executive team. He was responsible for the fast-food chain’s Japanese sales and oversaw all in-store marketing across the Asian nation.
Anzai replaces long-serving country manager Chikao Ebihara, who announced his retirement early this year.
“Ichiro has some big shoes to fill,” said senior Zespri executive Simon Limmer. “Chikao has developed a very successful team in Japan, which this season moved a record volume for this market. With Chikao’s departure, we saw an opportunity to refresh this team so that it can continue to build on the strong base we have established in this market.”
Anzai is an MBA graduate from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management in Arizona. Along with his experience at McDonald’s, Anzai has held senior sales and marketing roles at a number of top-level FMCG companies, including Bausch & Lomb and Unilever.
