Trading & Emerging Markets Commercial Lead — Eastern Europe

Fyffes; Rotterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Job summary

Fyffes is seeking a Commercial Manager – Trading & Emerging Markets to join our European commercial organisation. This role blends fresh produce trading, account management and new business development, with a focus on surplus/spot fruit and expanding in Eastern Europe.

You will build and protect pricing strategies, nurture customer relationships and work with cross-functional teams to maximise commercial value across Europe.

Qualifications

• Commercial experience within fresh produce, FMCG, food trading or another fast-moving commercial environment.
• Experience with bananas or tropical fruit would be a strong advantage.
• Strong commercial judgement and confidence making decisions in rapidly changing market conditions.
• Experience in business development, account management and negotiation.
• Understanding of pricing, margins, quality, logistics and supply chain.
• Ability to evaluate opportunities based on overall commercial return, not just selling price.
• Resilience and persistence when developing new customers and markets.
• Confidence working across different countries, cultures and customer types.
• Willingness to travel regularly across Europe, particularly Eastern Europe.
• Fluency in English; additional Eastern European languages advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Surplus & Spot Fruit Management: sell surplus, distressed and unallocated fruit volumes, mainly bananas.
• Identify opportunities based on price, margin, quality, specification, location and logistics.
• Collaborate with European commercial teams to gauge demand and opportunities.
• Respond quickly to market changes while protecting pricing and customer relationships.
• Maximise recovery and minimise losses and write-offs.
• Coordinate with supply chain and logistics to place fruit in the right market at the right time.
• Build a network of spot and secondary-market customers.
• Account Management & Business Development: grow existing banana accounts by volume, margin and relationships.
• Develop new banana business, especially in emerging Eastern Europe markets.
• Engage retailers, wholesalers, importers, distributors and ripeners.
• Understand customer requirements across quality, origin, specification, packaging and logistics.
• Convert opportunities into profitable recurring business; negotiate terms with focus on margin and long-term value.
• Monitor market trends and routes to market for opportunities.
• Regularly visit customers across Europe, with emphasis on Eastern Europe.

Skills

Fresh produce trading

Banana/tropical fruit experience

Pricing & margins

Account management

Willing to travel

Fluent English

Cross-cultural collaboration

Job description

Fyffes is seeking a Commercial Manager – Trading & Emerging Markets to join our European commercial organisation. This role blends fresh produce trading, account management and new business development, with a focus on surplus/spot fruit and expanding in Eastern Europe.

You will build and protect pricing strategies, nurture customer relationships and work with cross-functional teams to maximise commercial value across Europe.