Yvonne Breier (left) and Barbara Wieser (right) join Läderach

• - New Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Yvonne Breier joins from Kägi

• - Barbara Wieser becomes Chief HR, Sustainability and Communications Officer

• - The premium chocolatier is thus gearing up its management for further growth

Bilten, May 29, 2024 – The manufacturer of premium chocolate from the canton of Glarus is also gearing up its management team for further growth. Yvonne Breier (39) and Barbara Wieser (44) are two proven experts in their respective fields who are joining the management team; they have already demonstrated in their previous activities that they can provide pioneering entrepreneurial stimulus. Yvonne Breier will take up her role as Chief Marketing Officer on September 1, 2024. She has extensive experience in the industry: after holding various positions at Lindt & Sprüngli, she spent several years as Head of Marketing and a member of the Executive Board at Kägi. She succeeds Patrick Farinato, who left the company at the end of February. Since then, Elias Läderach has been managing the marketing division on an interim basis. 

On August 1 of this year, Barbara Wieser will join us from her own executive search company digitalheads, whose operational activities she is transferring into new hands. In future, she will be responsible for HR, corporate communications and sustainability management. Her position on the Executive Board was newly created to better reflect the increasing importance of these core issues. 

Yvonne Breier successfully advanced all the marketing activities at her previous employer Kägi – from brand positioning and internationalization to innovation management. Prior to this, she held positions of responsibility at Lindt & Sprüngli for several years. She has a CEMS Master’s in International Management and a Master’s in International Affairs from the University of St. Gallen. As CMO, she will be responsible for global marketing at Läderach. 

Barbara Wieser has many years of experience as a successful entrepreneur in the fields of communications and HR. Before setting up her own HR consultancy in 2012, she worked as a Managing Partner at a recruitment company specializing in the media. From 2002 to 2005, she was responsible for the Exhibitions division at a renowned provider of live communication. She began her career in the aviation sector, and holds a Master’s degree in psychosocial management.

“Two impressive individuals are joining our management team in the form of Yvonne and Barbara. Their enthusiasm for products, people and our company is palpable,” says CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors Johannes Läderach, looking forward to the two new additions to the management team. “I am certain that they will provide significant stimuli for the development of our company,” adds Johannes Läderach.

“Chocolate has shaped my professional life so far, so I am all the more excited that I can now contribute my experience and passion for chocolate to Läderach as an exceptional premium manufacturer,” says Yvonne Breier, looking forward to her new role. “I have followed Läderach’s impressive development in recent years and am now very much looking forward to playing an active role in the further evolution of this outstanding brand.”

“I’m familiar with Läderach from many years of consulting work. The better I got to know the company, the more the idea of being able to shape it from the inside came into being,” says Barbara Wieser about her motivation. “I have already assisted with lots of projects and am now looking forward to switching from consulting to taking responsibility,” continues Barbara Wieser.

In addition to Yvonne Breier and Barbara Wieser, the Executive Board now consists of CEO Johannes Läderach, Chief Innovation Officer Elias Läderach, CFO Marco Heyn, COO Laurens van den Berg, and CSO Nathanael Hausmann.  

Freshness, artisanal skills, and Swissness – these are the core values the Swiss chocolate factory Läderach stands for. Founded in 1962, the family company employs approximately 2,000 people from around 70 countries across the Group, which is headquartered in the canton of Glarus. Läderach oversees the entire production process from the cocoa bean to the store counter and manufactures its chocolate exclusively in Switzerland. This makes it one of just a few premium producers to guarantee sustainable quality from the cocoa bean to refined chocolate. The artisanally crafted chocolate creations are sold at more than 180 Läderach chocolateries with sales sites in 20 countries, as well as via franchise partners in the Middle East and Asia. Chocolate lovers can also order the specialties from Switzerland in Läderach’s online shop (www.laderach.com)

Matthias Goldbeck 

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Phone +41 79 210 51 48

[email protected]