Business Development Manager- Fruits

About Us
As a leading provider of high-quality food and beverage ingredients, we work with farming communities across the globe to grow, source and produce ingredients that are good for consumers, farmers, and the world around us. We supply household food brands and manufacturers worldwide with cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices ingredients which are often grown on our own farms and estates and sourced from hundreds of thousands of farmers across -50 countries. Along with our diverse manufacturing and innovation capabilities, this means we can provide ingredients for a range of products, from a plant-based latte mix to an almond based snack bar or a dairy-free ice cream.
Making a positive impact on people and planet is a core component of our Purpose, to be the change for good food and a healthy future. With a deep-rooted presence in the countries where our ingredients are grown, we are closer to farmers, enabling better quality, and more reliable, traceable, and transparent supply. And whoever we're with, whatever we're doing, we always make it real
Overview of the role
Lead profitable business growth for fruits and dehydrated fruits by developing customers, expanding markets, and building a reliable supplier and sourcing network. The role combines commercial ownership with hands-on sourcing to deliver competitive, quality-assured solutions across domestic and export markets.
Key Responsibilities
· Develop and execute the business development strategy for fruits and dehydrated fruits in line with revenue, margin, volume, and market-share goals.
· Identify, engage, and convert new customers across food ingredients, snacking, bakery, confectionery, dairy, beverage, retail, foodservice, and other relevant segments.
· Manage the end-to-end sales cycle, including prospecting, solution development, product trials, pricing, negotiation, contracting, forecasting, and collections follow-up.
· Grow existing accounts through customer relationship management, cross-selling, new product introductions, and joint business planning.
· Build and manage a dependable sourcing network of growers, processors, aggregators, and trading partners in India, Vietnam, and other relevant origins.
· Source products such as dehydrated mango, pineapple, banana, papaya, coconut, jackfruit, berries, raisins, dates, and other fruit-based ingredients based on market demand.
· Negotiate supplier commercials, payment terms, lead times, specifications, minimum order quantities, and supply agreements to ensure competitiveness and continuity.
· Partner with Quality, R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Regulatory teams to qualify suppliers and meet customer requirements.
· Monitor crop cycles, origin dynamics, pricing trends, competitor activity, import/export conditions, and customer demand to guide buying and selling decisions.
· Ensure compliance with product specifications, food-safety standards, traceability, documentation, and applicable local and export regulations.
· Maintain an accurate sales pipeline, demand forecast, sourcing plan, margin tracker, and regular business performance reports.
· Represent the company at customer meetings, supplier visits, trade fairs, and industry events; travel regionally as required.
Qualification & Experience
· Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Agriculture, Food Technology, Supply Chain, or a related discipline; a postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
· Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in B2B sales, business development, sourcing, or trading within fruits, dehydrated fruits, dried fruits, fruit ingredients, or adjacent food categories.
· Demonstrated success in customer acquisition, revenue growth, commercial negotiation, and account management.
· Practical knowledge of supplier development, crop and seasonality dynamics, product specifications, quality parameters, and supply-chain risks.
· Established customer and supplier networks in India, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, or relevant export markets are strongly preferred.
· Understanding of food-safety, traceability, import/export documentation, and international trade practices is desirable.
Skills & Competencies
· Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance sales growth, sourcing competitiveness, margin, quality, and risk.
· Excellent negotiation, relationship-building, communication, and presentation skills.
· Entrepreneurial, customer-focused, and comfortable building a business in evolving markets.
· Analytical and disciplined in pipeline management, forecasting, pricing, and business reporting.
· Ability to work independently and collaborate effectively across countries and functions.
Success Measures
· Revenue, gross margin, volume, and new-customer acquisition.
· Growth and retention of strategic accounts.
· Competitive sourcing, supplier reliability, and supply continuity.
· Forecast accuracy, working-capital discipline, and on-time execution.
· Customer satisfaction, product quality, and compliance performance.
Location:
Vietnam or India ofi
is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to racial or ethnic origin, color, age, religion or belief, sex, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.