ANDS appoints PMI veteran as new MD for Europe

ANDS, a distributor of alternative nicotine delivery systems, has appointed Mary Carmen Ordóñez as new managing director to spearhead its market expansion in the UK and Europe as part of the company’s international growth strategy.

A Spanish and Mexican citizen, Ordóñez is a lawyer by training, holding three Masters’ degrees in different areas of Law.

She comes with 23-year-experience at Philip Morris International (PMI), where she held several positions including Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Assistant General Counsel Litigation, Assistant General Counsel European Union and Vice President and Associate General Counsel, LATAM and Canada.

“I am honoured to be taking on this role and playing my part in helping this business achieve great things. I have been incredibly impressed by the company’s growth. In just three years, ANDS has established a very significant market share in two Middle East markets, a phenomenal achievement, especially considering ANDS was formed a week before the pandemic started,” Ordóñez said.

“Our plan is to get our feet firmly on the ground in the UK, where we have opened offices in Mayfair, London and to use this as a springboard into European markets where the population of smokers is significant. These include the likes of France, Germany and Spain. As with the UK market, our main targets will be convenience and specialist retail, as well as supermarkets and the travel retail sector.”

Commenting, Fadi Maayta, co-founder and president of ANDS, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mary Carmen to the fast-growing ANDS family. We are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far, and we’re on a mission to go even further to provide the world’s more than one billion smokers with viable alternatives to their conventional combustible cigarettes.

“Mary Carmen’s appointment is hugely significant, not only in terms of supporting our international growth plans in Europe, but in our commitment to being the best we can be. She is the first person to lead a business in our sector with a legal and compliance background, which will be vital for our business to meet future regulatory obligations as well as our ESG responsibilities.”

ANDS recently announced that Morrisons is stocking its new 99% plus recyclable and recoverable Slix single use vape product in around 1,500 Morrisons Daily stores and supermarkets across the UK.