Before joining McCain, he was President of the Global OTC Division of Novartis Inc., a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Prior to Novartis, Dirk spent more than a decade with Groupe Danone, a maker of dairy, water, baby food and clinical nutrition products. He held various senior-level positions before becoming President of the Americas Division and joint President of the Fresh Dairy Division.
In the first 15 years of his career, Dirk held many sales and marketing roles in Europe and Latin America for Mars Inc., as well as The Coca Cola Company, where, among others, he was President, Coca Cola Caribbean.
Dirk holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Ghent, Belgium, and a post-graduate in marketing and management. He is fluent in Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese.
Mondelēz International, Inc. (/ˌmoʊndəˈliːz/),[3] is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company based in Illinois which employs about 83,000 people around the world. It consists of the global snack and food brands of Kraft Foods Inc. after the October 2012 spin-off of its North American grocery-foods products. The Mondelez name, adopted in 2012, was suggested by Kraft Foods employees and is derived from the Latin word mundus ("world") and delez, a fanciful modification of the word "delicious".[4][5]
The company, headquartered near Chicago, manufactures chocolate, cookies, biscuits, gum, confectionery, and powdered beverages. Mondelez International's portfolio includes several billion-dollar brands such as Belvita, Chips Ahoy!, Nabisco, Oreo, Ritz, TUC, Triscuit, LU, Club Social, Barny, and Peek Freans (cookies and crackers); Milka, Côte d'Or, Toblerone, Cadbury, Freia, Marabou, Fry's, Lacta(chocolate), Trident, Dentyne, Chiclets, Halls, Stride (gum and cough drops), Tate's Bake Shop and Tang (powdered beverages).
The company has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in approximately 160 countries.[6] The company ranked No. 117 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[7]
Mondelez Canada holds the rights to Christie Brown and Company, which consists of brands such as Mr. Christie and Dad's Cookies. Its head office is in Mississauga, Ontario, with operations in Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.
