Oettinger Davidoff appoints new Head Europe and Global Travel Retail
Martin Kaufmann becomes Senior Vice President Europe and Global Travel Retail of Oettinger Davidoff AG. He will be joining the company on September 1, 2015. Albert Manzone, Head Europe, will be leaving the company and Christian Vonthron, Head Global Travel Retail, will be taking early retirement.
Oettinger Davidoff AG, the worldwide leading manufacturer of premium cigars, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, has appointed Martin Kaufmann (48) as Senior Vice President Europe and Global Travel Retail, effective September 1, 2015. Martin Kaufmann is joining Oettinger Davidoff from the Estée Lauder Companies, where he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager North America for Aveda. Martin spent his early career at the Gillette Company, where his last position was Business Unit Director DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) for Braun. He continued at Procter & Gamble after P&G acquired Gillette, first as Global Marketing Director Braun Male Grooming, and then took on positions of increasing responsibility and complexity. Before moving to Estée Lauder in 2012, Martin was Managing Director Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America for P&G’s Wella Haircare.
Martin Kaufmann is German, but grew up in the French speaking part of Switzerland and is bi-lingual in German and French, fluent in English and manages in Spanish and Italian as well. He holds an MBA from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and undertook Executive Education at IMD in Switzerland. He has lived and worked in Frankfurt, London, Geneva and New York. Martin and his family are moving from Minneapolis, USA, to Basel in August.
Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, CEO of Oettinger Davidoff AG, said: “With a track record of transformative leadership in branded consumer goods in global and regional roles, I am confident that Martin Kaufmann will make a significant contribution to accelerate growth in Europe as well as in Global Duty Free. With this combined new key role in my senior team we will be better equipped for our future challenges and continue our company’s transformation.”

Martin Kaufmann added: “I am very excited to join Hans-Kristian and the entire Oettinger Davidoff team to help driving the company’s business toward accelerated growth in Europe and Global Travel Retail. Oettinger Davidoff’s portfolio of strong brands and its leadership in that space makes it extremely compelling to me. And personally, I very much look forward to moving back to Switzerland, where I grew up.”
Albert Manzone will be leaving the company after three years of significant contribution to the European business of Oettinger Davidoff.
Christian Vonthron, who launched the Duty Free department at Oettinger Davidoff in 1997 and has led the impressive development to where our Global Travel Retail business is today, will take early retirement. He will be available to Oettinger Davidoff for future project work and will remain its representative on the board of TFWA, The Tax Free World Association, until the 2015 TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in October.
About Oettinger Davidoff AG
The CHF 1.23 billion Oettinger Davidoff AG, with over 3,600 employees around the world, traces its roots back to 1875 and remains family owned to this day, with two distinctly different businesses: one that is focused on FMCG distribution in the Swiss market and one dedicated to the core business of producing, marketing and retailing premium branded cigars, tobacco products and accessories. The premium branded cigar business includes Davidoff, AVO, Camacho, Cusano, Griffin’s, Private Stock, Zino and Zino Platinum. Oettinger Davidoff AG is anchored in a strong “crop-to-shop” philosophy, having pursued a vertical integration from the tobacco fields in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua to the worldwide network of almost 70 Davidoff Flagship Stores.
