Maurizio Brusadelli (pictured) has been appointed as president of Kraft Foods UK & Ireland, replacing Nick Bunker, who is leaving the company to become chief executive of KP Snacks, United Biscuits’ recently separated snacks business.

Having joined Kraft Foods 19 years ago, Maurizio Brusadelli has been president, gum and candy of Kraft Foods Europe since 2010. He has also been general manager of Kraft Foods Iberia and category director of Philadelphia Europe.

United Biscuits has appointed Nick Bunker as the new chief executive of its recently separated snacks business, which is to be re-named KP Snacks. Nick Bunker joins the UB Group with effect from 1 September from Kraft Foods, where he is currently president of Kraft Foods UK/Ireland.

UB’s snacks business is the second largest bagged snack company in the UK and has shown consistent top and bottom line growth for the last five years. This product category remains dynamic currently growing at 6% per annum and the UB board sees substantial growth opportunities both in the UK and internationally. The new chief executive, together with the recently appointed dedicated management team, will provide the focus to move this business to its next level.

With household brand favourites such as McCoy’s, Hula Hoops, KP Nuts and Skips, together with a range of other well known brands ripe for development such as Phileas Fogg, Space Raiders, Nik Naks and Wheat Crunchies, UB is convinced that there is great potential for the business. Products are manufactured in four factories in the UK. KP Snacks employs around 1,500 people.

Nick Bunker is the new chief executive of KP Snacks.

Nick Bunker has been running the Kraft and Cadbury business in the UK and Ireland for the last four years with a current turnover of over £2 billion. He has been pivotal in the successful integration of Cadbury to Kraft and has a track record of growing and developing various business operations.

Nick Bunker began his career with Mars Confectionery, and then worked with United Biscuits’ International Division and Terry’s of York. He then joined Inchcape plc to manage various retail and distribution businesses in the Middle East before joining Kraft in 2000. Prior to his current role he has led Kraft businesses in the Middle East, the CzechRepublic and Slovakia. He is currently chair of the Food and Drink Federation’s Sustainability Steering Group.

Nick Bunker comments: “KP Snacks is an excellent organisation with great products and a strong team. I am delighted to be offered the chance to lead the Snacks business, which contains some of the best known household names in the category. I look forward to building on the company’s success with these brands.”

Kraft Foods in investing £17 million to further develop its research and development capabilities in the UK, including the recently opened Centre of Excellence for Chocolate at the former Cadbury head quarters at Bournville near Birmingham. Incorporating new innovation labs, a new pilot plant facility and a collaboration kitchen, the new centre will be used to develop Cadbury products but also innovations for Kraft Foods’ other chocolate confectionery brands such as Milka and Toblerone.

Kraft Foods is also expanding and refurbishing its research facilities atReading, the group’s largest science centre outside the US.

“These openings are really exciting news for Kraft in the UK and Ireland, placing our world-class R&D operations and employees at the centre of a global network,” says Nick Bunker, president of Kraft Foods UK/Ireland.

Kraft Foods UK is to invest £6 million in new a shelf-ready packaging format for its Cadbury range of chocolate bars, enabling the product to stand upright in order to attract the attention of shoppers. “Installation of the new packaging equipment at the famous factory in Bournville will begin in the New Year,” says Nick Bunker, president of Kraft Foods UK. “Shelf-ready packaging allows retailers to simply remove the front of the case containing the chocolate bars and put it straight on to the stores’ shelves.”

The new packaging for Cadbury Dairy Milk, Whole Nut and Fruit and Nut range will entail springs fitted within the cardboard boxes to prevent the bars from falling down and to push the confectionery forward each time one is removed.

Kraft Foods recently announced plans to invest £50 million in its UK confectionery manufacturing operations while cutting the workforce by 200 people. The 200 jobs will be shed at Kraft’s sites at Bournville, Birmingham, Chirk in Wrexham, north Wales, and Marlbrook in Herefordshire. The cuts will be made through redeployment and voluntary redundancies over two years from March 2012.

Kraft will invest £6 million in a new biscuits line at its site in Sheffield, which produces sugar confectionery products such as Trebor, Maynards and Bassetts, to facilitate the manufacture of Oreo and BelVita biscuits in the UK for the first time.

The remaining investment will be made on a range of projects to upgrade infrastructure, speed up production, reduce waste and improve energy efficiency at three chocolate confectionery manufacturing sites - Bournville, Chirk and Marlbrook.