Purina Italy and South Europe appointed a new regional Director

Rafael will be in charge of business for Italy, the main market in that area, but also for several European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and South-Eastern European countries (Croatia, Bosnia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro). Before of this position, Rafael was Regional Business Head of Purina for Asia, Oceania, Africa.

After entering Nestlé in 1996 with tasks in the sales department in Spain, in  2002 was appointed Country Manager Nestlé Purina Petcare Spain and, in 2008, Head of Customer & Sales of the European Direction; at the end of 2011 he became AOA (Asia-Oceania-Africa) Regional Business Head Nestlé Purina Petcare with the task of strengthen the presence of Purina in Asia, Oceania and Africa. In this role he distinguish himself for some very effective commercial initiatives, suitable to the complicated Asian markets, besides redefining gender balance in the management team and creating different regional teams.  After graduating in Business Management at Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona, Lopez continued his education at IESE Business School, ESMA and l’IMD Business School. Born and grown up in Barcelona, Lopez has recently moved to Milan with his wife, 3 kids, and Pipa, his  dachshund, which, thanks to the “Pets at Work” project, will also join the Purina team in Assago.

Lopez succeeds Marco Travaglia who was appointed President and CEO of Nestlé Italy and Malta after having been Regional Director Nestlé Purina PetCare Southern Region since 2013.