Sales Director Exotic Trade

For over thirty years, Unidex has brought flavors from around the world to supermarkets, wholesalers, and specialty stores across Europe. Now, the company is gearing up for the next chapter, focusing on professionalizing the sales organization and expanding its reach. That’s where a new Sales Director comes in – stepping in to lead one of the company’s key business units.

About Unidex

Thai curry pastes, Ghanaian palm oil, Jamaican ginger beer, Javanese sambal – today’s supermarket shelves are stocked with flavors from across the globe. What once occupied only a small corner now stretches across entire aisles. A significant share of these products comes from Unidex, a family-owned company founded in 1989 out of a passion for authentic international flavors.

Today, its portfolio includes over 3,500 items – from legumes, noodles, and spices to drinks, snacks, and sauces – sourced from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. Unidex serves two distinct channels: large retail chains across Europe and the exotic trade. The latter includes around 2,500 specialty stores, such as ethnic supermarkets and local food shops, as well as wholesalers. Operations are coordinated from the headquarters and central warehouse in De Zilk, supported by sales offices in the Netherlands, the UK, Portugal, and Spain, and the company’s own production facility in Thailand.

Unidex distributes both international brands and its own labels, including premium and private-label products. The company’s success is built on high service standards, a customer-focused approach, and an efficient logistics platform. At the same time, the market is challenging: consumer spending is declining, prices fluctuate, international tensions are rising, and competition is increasing. To maintain its leading position and prepare for the future, the company is entering a new phase, focused on further professionalizing the organization, expanding the product range – including fresh items – and evolving into a one-stop shop for customers. Perfect timing for the new Sales Director Exotic Trade to help shape the next chapter of the company.

Exotic channel
The exotic channel drives a significant part of Unidex’s business. While the company works with both wholesalers and shops, the focus is increasingly on the shops themselves. This gives Unidex more control over product selection, margins, and how its brands are presented. While Unidex already covers most of the Dutch shop market, significant untapped potential remains, particularly in Germany and France.

Vacancy: Sales Director Exotic Trade

This new phase, with its bold ambitions, calls for a strong leader who can turn those ambitions into reality and guide the organization through the transition. The Sales Director Exotic Trade takes on this role, steering the sales team and the broader organization toward a more structured, results-driven way of working.

The sales strategy for the Exotic Trade business unit is built around clear targets, including margins, revenue growth, customer development, and visit frequency. Under the leadership of the Sales Director, the international team of eleven account managers, together with the sales back office of twelve team members, will move toward a more KPI-driven way of working. The Sales Director guides the team not only in using tools like the new CRM system, but also in understanding why they matter and how disciplined planning improves performance. Effectively, this means that the Sales Director is a strong change manager with empathetic people skills – both critical assets for leading an international, culturally diverse team to success.

The Sales Director sets the strategic direction while remaining hands-on with the team, coaching account managers and engaging directly with key customers to turn plans into tangible results. Balancing big-picture strategy with hands-on execution means decisions can be refined in real time, without losing sight of customer priorities and market realities. As a member of the management team, the Sales Director keeps the organization updated on key developments and contributes to company-wide initiatives for further professionalization and growth. The role reports directly to the CEO.

“Relationships matter here – our clients have been with us for years, and our account managers know them inside out. The new Sales Director will need the same understanding of the exotic food market and its cultural nuances. Success comes just as much from people skills as from delivering results.” – Roland Janssen, CEO

A Sales Director looking for a comfortable, hands-off position won’t find what they’re after at Unidex. For a sales professional who thrives in an environment with the freedom and mandate to drive change and make a tangible impact, this is an ideal opportunity.

Interested?

Unidex is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Marc Mohr at marc.mohr@topofminds.com.