Probi appoints Johan Wahlqvist as Director Marketing & Sales for the business area Functional Food

Johan Wahlqvist has been appointed Director Marketing & Sales for Probi’s business area Functional Food. Prior to joining Probi he held the position as Director of Sales at LEAF Sweden, and will assume his position at Probi in August 2008.

Johan has extensive experience from the food industry. Since 1990 he has held several positions within marketing and sales at multinational companies such as Quaker, Nestlé and Kellogg’s. As Director of Sales at LEAF Sweden he has been responsible for 90 staff and had sales responsibility for brands such as Läkerol, Truly, Ahlgrens Bilar and Gott & Blandat with a combined turnover of 1.2 billion SEK.

”Johan is a natural choice for the position. He has great experience from and understanding of the industry’s challenges. His sales skills and background from large international food companies will contribute to further strengthening Probi’s business area Functional Food,” says Michael Oredsson, CEO of Probi.

Today Probi has three business areas and Functional Food is the largest. Functional Food is food enriched with ingredients that give positive health effects. Probi has developed both refrigerated drinks and ambient foods with probiotics that are sold by companies such as Skane Dairy (ProViva), US-based NextFoods (Verb: GoodBelly) and Kraft Foods (LiveActive bars). Food companies have a great interest in Probi’s probiotics and Johan Wahlqvist’s new role will make further expansion possible.

The recruitment of Johan Wahlqvist will strengthen Probi’s marketing and sales organization further. Johan Wahlqvist starts in August 2008 and takes over the Functional Food business area from Niklas Bjärum who has assumed overall marketing and sales responsibility at Probi.

”Probi is a very exciting company that has great market potential. All trends show that customers want more healthy food products with great taste. Probi’s products are internationally competitive and I look forward to many exciting challenges,” says Johan Wahlqvist, future Director Marketing & Sales Functional Food at Probi.


For further information, contact:
Michael Oredsson, CEO, ph: +46 (0)46 286 89 23 or +46 (0)707 18 89 30, e-mail: michael.oredsson@probi.se
Johan Wahlqvist, mobile +46 (0)734 39 42 81