Senior hire for Sleaford food company

Sonja Bentley

Lincolnshire ingredients supplier Sleaford Quality Foods says it is looking to target the retail market for the first time, having appointed former Nestlé Cereal Partners UK sales director Sonja Bentley to its executive team.

Bentley left Cereal Partners – the Nestlé & General Mills global joint venture that manufactures Nestle breakfast cereals – in June, having spent six years at the company as business controller and then regional sales director for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

She took up the newly created role of commercial director at Sleaford Quality Foods, a subsidiary of the Jain Group in India, in September.

Bentley said she was “hugely excited” to join the company, which sources exotic fruits, spices and herbs directly from Jain’s farms in India, as it targets further growth in foodservice and expands into retail.

“Sleaford has all the party pieces required to succeed in today’s turbulent food market,” she said. “I am looking forward to showing our customers, both new and old, the new factories in India and introducing our farmers to our UK buyers.”

James Arnold, managing director of Sleaford Quality Foods, said: “We’re very excited to have Sonja on board. She had the experience and knowledge to take the company forward as we enter a new period of significant growth.”

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