Unigrains hires business manager to expand global reach

The new hire is part of the firm's broader objective to open up global investment opportunities.

Agri-food and agro-industrial investor Unigrains has hired David De Almeida as international business manager.

De Almeida will be responsible for supporting the international growth and investment strategies of Unigrains and the companies it backs, part of the firm’s broader objective to open up global investment opportunities.

The firm has also hired Ari Levine for a newly created marketing and communications manager role to assist with that mission, as Agri Investor reported last week. 

De Almeida joins Unigrains after spending five years at Business France, where he first worked as agri-food export advisor in the firm’s Brazilian offices, and later became head of the food products department, tasked with the internationalisation of French food companies. Earlier in his career he held positions with Groupe Bel and Kraft Foods.

Unigrains, created in 1963, makes European agri-food and agro-industrial investments and is mainly owned by associations of cereal producers. French banks Crédit Agricole, Natixis, Société Générale and BNP Paribas have all taken stakes in its capital, according to the company website.

The firm manages €1.10 billion of assets and has invested more than €360 million in over 330 companies, according to PEI data. Levine declined to comment on the new hires.