“Our international goals and the associated strategic development of the Fond Of Group require diverse know-how in the areas of distribution, brand, product, finance and supply chain,” says Dr. Carsten Winkler, CEO. The now five-person management team now consists of the following people: Dr. Oliver Bruger, Finance; Grant Derin, Sales; Susanna Kindler, Marketing & Product; Mathias Lievenbrück, Supply Chain; Dr. Carsten Winkler, CEO. “Our new, powerful team consists of experienced Fond Of experts and external leaders with a convincing track record in the consumer goods sector. They combine the necessary knowledge and enthusiasm for the successful expansion of our dynamic organization.”
With the new management team, the company plans to continue to pursue its growth path. Three “growth levels” were defined:
One focus is on expanding the market position of Ergobag and Satch for school bags and bags as well as other children’s and youth products in the core markets of the DACH region. “These two brands in particular play a central role in the lives of families because they are inextricably linked to emotional moments such as starting school, but also to the entire school career and the process of growing up,” says the new marketing and product manager Susanna Kindler.
The second focus is on the footwear business. Fond of would like to further promote global expansion under the Affenzahn brand. “Our children’s shoe brand Affenzahn has been successful in recent years thanks to the strong brand story, the high functionality of the shoes and the child-friendly design,” says CFO Oliver Burger. “Affenzahn has thus become another growth pillar of Fond of GmbH in the German market.”
Ultimately, the company would like to invest in expanding its international business with a focus on Europe, but also with plans to intensify and professionalize market cultivation through its own national subsidiaries in non-European markets. Matthias Lievenbrück, Managing Director of Supply Chain, says: “One task as part of our internationalization will be to pave the way for our ambitious growth goals. The optimization of processes and supply chains, the professionalization of business development and the implementation of a new digital strategy are important levers for this.”
