In April 2023, after over 10 years at the helm of the Barilla Group, Claudio Colzani will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer to pursue other professional opportunities. “As a result of a scrupulous selection process, the position will be taken by Gianluca Di Tondo (pictured), former Chief Marketing Officer at Barilla,” said an official statement of the multinational food company.
Chairman Guido Barilla said, “I’d like to thank Claudio for these ten years we’ve spent together. He has provided us with significant growth and has solidified the Barilla Group to a great extent, making it optimistic as it faces its future challenges. Claudio has achieved major development in international markets, investing, and at the same time, in a pathway of sustainability. He has also created a more inclusive culture of valuing diversity. His leadership has made Barilla the first Italian company to receive the prestigious international Catalyst Award for achieving global gender pay equality. Special thanks also go to him for helping us at difficult times like during the pandemic, and for the support he continues to provide us with during the succession. In recent years, purchasing behaviors, working models, and distribution channels have changed. We hope to be at the center of this change and to open our window to the world, so we can always respond to people’s needs in the best possible way. With his vision and experience, Gianluca Di Tondo will drive the company through the transformation process required to become even more competitive in the international markets,” said Guido Barilla.
Gianluca Di Tondo commented, “I’m incredibly happy, proud, and grateful to the board of directors for this honor. I’m also conscious of the challenge in front of me having big shoes to fill coming after Claudio Colzani that in his 10 years at the helm of the company did an incredible job bringing Barilla where it is today. I can definitely see three priorities at the top of my agenda: to strengthen our brands even further in Italy and make them even better ambassadors of the Italian way of enjoying food around the world; to continue to nurture our values and diversity, to further improve the sense of belonging among our people, and to attract new talent; to acknowledge us as the most trusted food company for our consumers all over the world.”
THE NEW CEO’S EXPERIENCE
Gianluca Di Tondo has gained extensive experience in over 25 years in the food & beverage industry, working in the sales and marketing sectors. He assumed global responsibility for the Heineken brand, with full accountability for profit and loss, long-term vision, and strategy for a brand that is present in 192 markets.
In March 2020 he joined Barilla as Group Chief Marketing Officer, where his responsibilities included the definition of a new category strategy for pasta that resulted in the creation of the Barilla Al Bronzo line, the launch of new logos for Barilla and Mulino Bianco, and the establishment of the Barilla Acceleration Team – a center of excellence for digital skills and advanced analytics in London. Di Tondo also played a key role in the acquisition of Pasta Evangelists, where he became Chairman of the Board.