About Us
As a leading provider of high-quality food and beverage ingredients, we work with farming communities across the globe to grow, source and produce ingredients that are good for consumers, farmers, and the world around us. We supply household food brands and manufacturers worldwide with cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices ingredients which are often grown on our own farms and estates and sourced from hundreds of thousands of farmers across 50 countries. Along with our diverse manufacturing and innovation capabilities, this means we can provide ingredients for a range of products, from a plant-based latte mix to an almond based snack bar or a dairy-free ice cream. Making a positive impact on people and planet is a core component of our Purpose, to be the change for good food and a healthy future. With a deep-rooted presence in the countries where our ingredients are grown, we are closer to farmers, enabling better quality, and more reliable, traceable, and transparent supply. And whoever we're with, whatever we're doing, we always make it real
Overview of the role
We are seeking a strategic, commercially driven and customer-focused Regional Product Line Manager – Cocoa Liquor to lead the cocoa liquor business across APAC.
The role has end-to-end commercial responsibility for cocoa liquor, covering product-line strategy, sales development, pricing, profitability, supply-demand management, customer portfolio development and market expansion.
The successful candidate will be responsible for growing cocoa liquor volume and market share while delivering targeted margins and profitability. The role will work closely with country sales teams, key account managers, trading/procurement, operations, supply chain, R&D and global cocoa teams to develop a competitive and sustainable cocoa liquor business.
The role requires strong knowledge of cocoa markets, customer applications and commercial structures, together with the ability to translate market and customer insights into profitable sales opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
1. Cocoa Liquor Business & Product Line Management
- Own and execute the regional cocoa liquor strategy in alignment with APAC and global cocoa objectives.
- Take responsibility for the overall performance of the cocoa liquor portfolio, including volume, revenue, gross margin, profitability and market share.
- Develop annual and medium-term business plans for cocoa liquor by country, customer segment and application.
- Identify opportunities to optimize the product portfolio based on customer requirements, manufacturing capabilities and profitability.
- Manage the product lifecycle and ensure the regional portfolio remains competitive and relevant.
- Develop clear value propositions and positioning for different cocoa liquor products and origins.
- Continuously evaluate product mix and customer mix to improve overall business returns.
2. Sales & Business Development
- Drive cocoa liquor sales growth across APAC, working closely with regional and country sales teams.
- Develop and manage selected strategic and key cocoa liquor customers directly.
- Identify and develop new customers, applications and market opportunities.
- Build a robust sales pipeline with clear conversion plans and timelines.
- Support Key Account Managers and country sales teams in customer negotiations, product selection, technical discussions and commercial proposals.
- Drive customer penetration and increase share of wallet within strategic accounts.
- Develop opportunities across chocolate, confectionery, bakery, beverages, dairy, ice cream and other cocoa-based applications.
- Build long-term customer relationships through strong commercial understanding, responsiveness and product expertise.
- Coordinate cross-selling opportunities across cocoa liquor, cocoa powder and cocoa butter to strengthen the overall cocoa customer proposition.
3. Pricing, Margin & Commercial Management
- Establish pricing guidance and commercial frameworks for regional sales teams.
- Evaluate customer quotations, ensure profitability and risk management.
- Lead or support negotiations for annual, multi-year and strategic customer contracts.
- Manage contract pricing mechanisms, including fixed-price, differential, ratio-based and other relevant cocoa pricing structures.
- Identify and execute opportunities to through pricing, product mix, sourcing, logistics and operational efficiencies.
- Balance volume growth with disciplined margin and profitability management.
4. Supply, Demand & Inventory Management
- Own the regional demand forecast and sales planning process for cocoa liquor.
- Consolidate customer forecasts, contracted volumes and sales opportunities into an accurate regional demand plan.
- Work closely with supply chain, operations and sourcing teams to align demand with production and cocoa bean/liquor availability.
- Monitor inventory levels and proactively manage slow-moving or excess inventory.
- Identify potential supply-demand gaps early and develop mitigation plans.
- Prioritize available supply based on customer commitments, strategic importance and business profitability.
- Coordinate inter-regional supply opportunities where required.
5. Market Intelligence & Competitive Strategy
- Monitor cocoa market fundamentals, including bean prices, liquor ratios, processing economics, origin dynamics and regional supply-demand developments.
- Track competitor activities, capacity developments, pricing behaviour and product offerings.
- Maintain a clear understanding of the competitive landscape across major APAC markets.
- Monitor changing customer requirements and consumption trends.
- Translate market intelligence into actionable recommendations on pricing, sourcing, product development and sales strategy.
- Provide regular market updates and commercial insights to regional and global leadership.
6. Customer & Product Development
- Understand customer requirements relating to flavour, colour, cocoa origin, processing characteristics and application performance.
- Work closely with R&D, Innovation and Application teams to develop value-added cocoa liquor solutions.
- Coordinate customer trials, samples, technical evaluations and commercialization of new products.
- Identify opportunities for customized or differentiated liquor solutions that deliver additional customer and business value.
- Support customers in product reformulation, origin diversification, cost optimization and supply-risk management.
- Ensure new developments have a clear commercial proposition and route to market.
7. Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing
- Partner with sustainability and sourcing teams to support customer requirements for traceability, certification and responsibly sourced cocoa.
- Develop commercial opportunities around sustainable and traceable cocoa liquor solutions.
- Stay informed of regulatory and sustainability developments affecting cocoa sourcing and trade.
- Support customer discussions relating to responsible sourcing, traceability and relevant regulatory requirements.
8. Cross-Functional & One Cocoa Alignment
- Work closely with the Powder and Butter teams to develop an integrated One Cocoa approach for strategic customers.
- Collaborate with Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, Trading, Finance, R&D, Sustainability and Customer Service.
- Ensure commercial strategies are aligned with manufacturing capabilities and raw-material availability.
- Facilitate regular cocoa liquor business reviews with relevant regional stakeholders.
- Act as the key regional interface between APAC commercial teams and the Global Cocoa Liquor/Product teams.
Experience and Qualifications:
· Bachelor's degree in Business, Food Science, Agribusiness, or related field; MBA preferred.
· Minimum 8–12 years of experience in product management, commercial strategy, or supply chain within the cocoa or food ingredients industry.
· Strong understanding of cocoa liquor production, applications, and market dynamics.
· Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
· Ability to travel regionally as required.
