Johan Lindén, general manager of Dole Germany, has succeeded Jean-Christophe Juilliard as president of Dole Europe, following the group's decision to relocate its head office from Paris to Hamburg.
The move was announced earlier this week and follows a major restructuring of the US multinational's management in Europe, a development which has also seen the departure of Dole Europe vice-president Fouad Foukra.
According to the group, the transfer from France to Germany reflects a desire within Dole Europe to concentrate more closely on the import and distribution of produce from Latin America.
A spokesperson for the company said: 'Dole has decided to reorganise its European fresh fruit operations. In order to better face the current difficult European banana market, Dole will concentrate its efforts towards the import and distribution of its Latin American fruit into Europe, for which the main market is Germany.'
The spokesperson added: 'Johan Lindén, current general manager of Dole Germany, is named president of Dole Europe in replacement of Jean-Christophe Juilliard, who will be leaving the company.'
Dole Europe's headquarters on Paris' Rue de Courcelles was established in 1992 to coordinate fresh fruit and vegetable imports via a number of Dole offices and agents in various European countries.
More recently, Dole's fresh fruit business has become more centralised, with a large proportion of imports going via a number of major European ports including Hamburg (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium) and Livorno (Italy).
The company's European Packaged Foods business relocated from Brussels to Paris in 2000.
