Confectioner Perfetti Van Melle announced it has named Mike Gomes as VP of supply chain North America, reporting to Sylvia Buxton, president/CEO of the company’s Americas business unit. 

Gomes will take over the responsibility of the Perfetti Van Melle North America End-to-End Supply Chain including three factories: Erlanger, Kentucky; Rockford, Illinois; and Toluca, Mexico.

He brings to Perfetti Van Melle over 30 years of successful supply chain experience and manufacturing excellence with global experience within CPG and food industry companies such as Procter & Gamble, Mondelēz, Bonduelle, and more. Gomez is reportedly a high-performance leader with multicultural experience around the globe and success overseeing dozens of factories and thousands of employees.

“Demand continues to be strong in our North America existing business of Airheads candy, Mentos gum and mints, and Chupa Chups, as well as the Trident, Dentyne, and Bubblicious chewing gum brands Perfetti acquired a year ago,” Buxton comments. “We’re pleased to have Mike bring his leadership and extensive experience in the food and CPG industry to our North America supply chain team, which plays a vital part in our future growth and delivery of category innovation to our markets.”

Gomes earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Universidad Metropolitana UNIMET in Caracas, Venezuela where he also pursued Master of Business with a concentration in Finance at I.E.S.A, Caracas, Venezuela. He served as an auxiliary teacher at UNIMET in Physics & Rational Mechanics, and as a Diversity team leader while at P&G. Gomes has been recognized with multiple awards for outstanding business and diversity team contributions. 

“I am thrilled to join Perfetti Van Melle and am inspired by the team as well as innovative and collaborative culture here,” says Gomes. “I look forward to contributing to the company’s continued success delivering candy, gum, and mints that are well-loved around the Americas.”

Perfetti Van Melle is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.