The Appointment
Bauducco, the Brazilian baked goods brand holding an 86% value share in U.S. panettone, has named Jean-Pierre Comte as Chief Executive Officer, North America, effective immediately. The hire signals a deliberate step-up in the company's U.S. and Canadian growth strategy, arriving alongside a parallel leadership change at the parent-group level.
Comte brings more than 30 years of fast-moving consumer goods experience. Most recently he served as President of Rana Meal Solutions, where he oversaw U.S. and Canadian operations. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at Barilla leading the Americas region across multiple countries and brands, and held a significant tenure at Procter & Gamble — a résumé that maps squarely to Bauducco's need for large-format retail execution and multi-brand portfolio management.
The Leadership Structure
Concurrently, Stefano Mozzi has been elevated to CEO of Pandatura Group, the parent entity that encompasses Bauducco, Casa Bauducco, Ellece Logística, Visconti, and Tommy brands. Mozzi, who previously ran Bauducco's International Business Unit and has 16 years with the company, will focus on accelerating the brand's internationalization across its full portfolio. "Jean-Pierre is exactly the leader Bauducco needs at this critical juncture in our North American journey," Mozzi said. "His track record demonstrates consistent excellence in brand building, portfolio innovation, customer relationships, and team development."
The dual appointment restructures accountability along geographic lines — Comte owns North America execution while Mozzi oversees global strategy — a model common among FMCG companies scaling a regional brand into a multi-market operation.
Capacity Behind the Strategy
The executive realignment is timed to coincide with Bauducco's opening of a 160,000-square-foot production facility in Zephyrhills, Florida, its largest U.S. manufacturing plant. The site is projected to employ more than 600 workers at full production and will bring new categories into domestic manufacturing for the first time, including panettone — a SKU the brand currently dominates on import but has not previously produced stateside. The move materially shortens the supply chain for Bauducco's highest-profile seasonal item and positions the company to respond faster to retail reorder cycles during the fourth-quarter holiday window, when panettone accounts for a disproportionate share of category volume.
For foodservice and grocery buyers, the Florida facility also raises the prospect of improved in-stock rates and potentially lower minimum order thresholds on panettone and wafers — two segments where shelf-stable baked goods continue to see sustained velocity. Bauducco is already distributed through most major U.S. retailers across its panettone, wafer, cookie, and toast lines.
The broader baked goods category has seen intensifying competition as European heritage brands and private-label programs chip away at import-dependent players. Locking in domestic capacity at scale gives Bauducco a structural cost and logistics advantage that Comte — with his multi-country Barilla experience — is well positioned to leverage at retail. Operators sourcing seasonal baked goods for catering and hospitality programs will want to track Bauducco's expanded SKU availability heading into the 2026 holiday season.
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.
