Cristiano Canzan

I have acquired 30 years of experience within the Sales function, both in execution—leading sales forces with direct responsibility for National Account teams—and in Trade Marketing strategy, defining commercial levers and brand activation plans by channel/store format. I have worked for market-leading multinational companies in the food, personal/home care, and consumer electronics sectors, managing multiple distribution channels: Grocery Retail (GMS)/Horeca/Pharma/E-commerce/Drugstores/Specialized Retail. I have successfully led high-impact strategic projects, including sales force restructuring, Route-to-Market strategies, and the strategic development of category consumption (from shopper research through to in-store execution plans).

Field Director, Distribution & New Business Development at Cellularline (2017-01 – 2026-01)

Reporting to the CEO, managing an indirect sales force (80 agents) and the Distribution Business Unit.

• Responsible for the execution and development of pricing, promotional, and visibility policies across Grocery Retail (GMS) and Consumer Electronics/Telephony specialized stores through a team of 80 sales professionals.
• Accountable for achieving revenue and EBITDA targets for the Italy Business Unit (€100M Net Sales), with a specific assignment for new business growth (Smartphone protective films).
• Creation and management (with a dedicated team) of the third-party brand DISTRIBUTION BU (SAMSUNG, HUAWEI, SANDISK, TELEPASS), overseeing vendor relationships and holding direct responsibility for P&L, strategy, commercial planning, and execution.
• Developed new third-party distributed business lines from scratch, delivering strong absolute results for vendor partners (e.g., grew SAMSUNG ACCESSORIES from €0 to €20M Net Sales in 5 years).
• Shifted sales force operations from a "Sell-In Oriented" to a "Performance Oriented" approach, introducing tailored CRM tools to measure in-store execution and sell-out performance per single store/client.
• Created and scaled a new Business Unit for smartphone protective films. Managed P&L, strategy, and execution, driving a significant impact on turnover (from €0 to €17M Net Sales in 5 years).

Sales Director at Danone Spa (2014-01 – 2017-12)

Reporting to the Commercial Director, leading a team of 30 professionals structured into National Account Managers and Key Account Managers. Full responsibility for all distribution channels: Grocery Retail, Horeca, Traditional Trade.

• Defined client/channel strategies, managing the related P&L and brand activation plans.
• Led national commercial agreement negotiations with all Grocery Retail accounts.
• Designed and implemented training and development programs for the Customer Team.
• Successfully negotiated contracts keeping trade investments stable within deflationary market contexts.
• Developed the E-commerce channel by onboarding new clients (Amazon, Supermercato24, Click-and-Collect Grocery retailers) and expanded Horeca/Foodservice channels (Autogrill, McDonald's).
• Redesigned the sales organization by merging distribution channels, generating a 15% saving on distribution costs and maximizing profitability per channel.
• Secured partnership with McDonald's via the ACTIMEL/Happy Meal project; accelerated Amazon, Supermercato24, and ESSELUNGA ON LINE, achieving a growth rate 20% higher than the company average.

Head of Trade & Customer Marketing at Danone Spa (2012-01 – 2014-12)

Reporting directly to the Commercial Director, responsible for developing and monitoring the brand/channel/store format/client commercial strategy, managing a team of 20 Trade Marketers and Customer Category Managers.

• Defined the commercial brand plan regarding product portfolio and activation levers.
• Managed all communication toward the sales force: sales canvasses, meetings, and motivation plans.
• Developed customer-specific category plans through a team of Customer Category Managers.
• Created and deployed the in-store activation plan (budgeting €9M): from shopper research to final execution.
• Overhauled the promotional lever management process (budgeting €40M) in partnership with McKinsey, implementing volume-control tools that improved promotional ROI by 200 basis points.

Field sales manager at HEINZ SPA (2010-01 – 2012-12)

Report directly to the Commercial Director managing 20 key account for the BUYING GROUP channel.

• Managed Area Managers and Key Accounts operating across Italian retail groups (Conad, Crai, C3, Sigma, Selex).
• In the first year: restructured the sales force from an agency model to a direct employee model, delivering a 20% structure cost saving and achieving a market share in the target channel 150 basis points higher than the corporate average by the second year.
• Defined all framework agreements with national accounts and drove category development plans via Top-to-Top meetings and quarterly business reviews.

Head of Trade Marketing at HEINZ SPA (2006-01 – 2010-12)

Reporting to the Commercial Director, leading a team of 10 Trade Marketers with full responsibility for defining the commercial brand strategy across Grocery Retail (GMS) and Pharma channels.

• Built the Trade Marketing team from scratch, defining commercial strategies tailored by channel and store format.
• Partnered with the Marketing team to define annual commercial brand activation plans.
• Redesigned the commercial strategy for the pharmacy channel in collaboration with BAIN & CO.

Various roles at Reckitt Benckiser / Kraft (1998-01 – 2006-12)

Consolidation of commercial expertise.

• Managed National Accounts (Carrefour/Auchan/Metro/Selex) through trade agreement planning, managing promotional plans, assortment optimization, and customer P&L.
• Gained extensive experience as a Trade Marketer, designing the complete commercial strategy for major Laundry Detergent brands.

Degree in Economics and Business – University of Verona

High School Diploma in Computer Science (Business/Commercial Curriculum) – ITIS G. Marconi, Verona