Jean-Pierre Comte is now CEO of Bauducco North America, effective immediately, bringing more than 30 years of FMCG leadership that includes running Barilla's entire Americas region and, most recently, serving as President of Rana Meal Solutions. The appointment coincides with a group-level restructure: Stefano Mozzi, who previously led Bauducco's International Business Unit, steps up to CEO of Pandatura Group, the parent entity overseeing Bauducco, Casa Bauducco, Visconti, and the Tommy and Ellece Logística brands.
The Production Bet
The leadership transition is inseparable from a significant capital move Bauducco made earlier this year: the opening of a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Zephyrhills, Florida — the brand's largest U.S. production footprint to date. At full capacity, the plant is projected to employ more than 600 people and will, for the first time, bring panettone production onto U.S. soil. That last point matters operationally: domestic production compresses lead times, reduces import exposure, and gives retail buyers more confidence in supply continuity — a persistent pain point for seasonal imported SKUs.
Bauducco currently holds an 86% value share in the U.S. panettone category and is the country's leading wafer producer by volume. Those are strong category positions, but the Florida facility signals the brand is treating North America as a growth market requiring local infrastructure, not just an export channel to manage.
What This Signals for Operators
Counting on Barilla Americas and Rana experience in a single hire tells you something about where Bauducco is aiming. Both companies have navigated the same structural challenge: converting strong branded awareness into durable retail velocity and foodservice penetration across a fragmented North American landscape. Comte's background in multi-country portfolio management and customer relationship development at scale is directly applicable to expanding shelf placement beyond the seasonal panettone window and into year-round snacking and breakfast dayparts — categories where Bauducco's wafers, cookies, and toasts already have national distribution in major retailers.
For buyers and category managers, a newly resourced domestic plant and a CEO with deep customer-side relationships typically precedes a more aggressive trade promotional posture and accelerated new-item presentation cycles. Operators in the branded retail and foodservice channel should expect Bauducco to show up differently at the buyer table in the next 12 to 18 months — with faster replenishment timelines and, potentially, a broader assortment pitched from domestic production.
The group restructure, placing Mozzi over the full Pandatura portfolio, also consolidates internationalization strategy at the top, which typically accelerates go-to-market decision-making for individual market CEOs rather than slowing it. For vendors, agencies, and brokers tracking brand launch and retail readiness activity, Bauducco's infrastructure investment and executive build-out are the upstream indicators worth watching.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
