EXCLUSIVE: Mondelez to disband Middle East hub in global restructure

Global confectionery giant Mondelez International is to downsize its base in Dubai as part of a worldwide restructure.

The snacking company behind big brands such as Oreo biscuits and Cadbury Dairy Milk plans to reduce its global hub structure down from five regions to four.

This will mean that the Jebel Ali-based Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (EEMEA) region is being folded into the group’s existing Zurich-based EU region (Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia and Turkey move into EU Region) and the Singapore-based Asia Pacific (AP) region as of October this year.

The MEA part of this operation will move into the AP region and will be renamed Asia Middle East & Africa or AMEA region.

More than 300 people are said to work at the Dubai hub; most of these are expected to either be transferred to bases in Zurich or Singapore, or remain in Dubai to work at Mondelez’s Middle East Business Unit, which existed before the hub’s creation in 2012.

Andre Benoit, corporate and government affairs director for EEMEA, said: “We believe this new structure will further simplify the way we do business, empower our newly combined regions with speed and scale in critical areas, while also setting Mondelez International up for continued growth in ‘must-win’ markets.

“While the EEMEA hub will no longer exist, the Middle East Business Unit will continue to be based in Dubai, as it has always been, as well as a number of AMEA roles. The majority of colleagues in Dubai have been offered opportunities in the new, expanded regions, as well as global roles, where they will join larger teams and benefit from broader career prospects.”

Benoit was unable to confirm exact numbers remaining in Dubai while the company is “still working on future roles for many people”, but said the figure would be above 80.

This is the second restructure to have hit the EEMEA hub in a year after the company’s management underwent a major shake-up last October. Mondelez International was created when its parent company Kraft split its operations into two in 2012.