Company Description
Chiquita is a leading global company with 20,000 employees across 30 countries. We are passionate about our nutritious, high-quality, energy-rich and value-added bananas.
Chiquita's products are sold in nearly 70 countries around the world. Chiquita Brands International grows, procures, markets and sells bananas and other fresh fruits under the Chiquita brand and other names.
Job Description
Chiquita Europe B.V., is seeking a strategic and dynamic Field Force Manager to enhance our commercial strategies and secure our leadership in high quality fresh produce.
The Field Force Manager is responsible for leading and managing the company’s sales field team to ensure effective market execution, distribution, and visibility of the Chiquita brand across key retail and wholesale channels. This role involves driving sales performance, optimizing route-to-market operations, and ensuring strong trade relationships to grow market share and brand presence.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Lead, manage, and coach the sales field team to meet and exceed sales targets.
- Plan and execute retail and wholesale market coverage strategies to ensure product availability and visibility.
- Develop great relationship to major stores and Store owners and retail partners
- Monitor field performance and provide timely support and corrective actions where needed.
- Collaborate with the sales and trade marketing team to implement in-store promotions and merchandising.
- Conduct regular market visits to assess execution quality, customer engagement, and competitor activity.
- Analyze sales data and market trends to identify growth opportunities and address performance gaps.
- Ensure proper execution of route-to-market (RTM) plans, including optimization of routes, sales call frequencies, and outlet segmentation.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, and training of field force staff.
- Ensure compliance with company policies, safety standards, and customer agreements.
- Provide periodic reports and insights to senior sales leadership on field activities and KPIs.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Sales, or a related field.
- 5+ years of experience in FMCG or fresh produce sales, with at least 2 years in a field team leadership role.
- Strong experience managing retail/wholesale channels and frontline sales teams.
- Background in perishable or fresh products (e.g., fruits, vegetables, dairy) is highly desirable.
- Language skills: Dutch/Flemish and English mandatory
Additional Information
Key skills:
- Strong leadership and team management
- In-depth understanding of field sales operations and RTM strategies
- Excellent interpersonal and customer relationship management skills
- Analytical thinking with the ability to interpret sales and field data
- Strong communication and negotiation skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (especially Excel) and sales reporting tools (e.g., Salesforce, SFA apps)