Finnish food delivery firm Wolt has announced three new retail appointments including that of Christian Urban as global head of grocery.
Urban (pictured-left) will lead strategy and operations for the company’s partnership business. Previously, he served as the director of marketplace for the Asia-Pacific region at foodpanda.
He succeeds Antonia Degerlund-Johansson, who held the role in a temporary capacity last year.
Christian Urban
Urban brings a wealth of experience in scaling businesses and driving digital innovation, with a specific focus on customer experience, user growth, and operational excellence.
He was instrumental in growing foodpanda's retail delivery to a multi-million-dollar business across 11 countries and forming strategic partnerships with leading brands such as Carrefour, Watsons, DFI, and 7-Eleven.
Prior to that, he served as managing director for Honestbee Singapore and launched the region's first dark store grocery concept.
He led digital campaigns at Leo Burnett for major brands like Škoda, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola, as well as marketing projects for Johnson & Johnson and Star Alliance at digital strategy and marketing agency Astronaut in Beijing, China.
Other Appointments
Elsewhere, Wolt has named Nils Salzmann (pictured-right) as global head of commercial, and Arusha Imtiaz (pictured-centre) as global head of strategy and business operations.
Salzmann is an experienced professional who spent seven years at Amazon and Amazon Fresh in a range of commercial leadership roles. He also led the Berlin launch of Knuspr.de in 2024.
Arusha Imtiaz will step in as global head of strategy and business operations.
Previously, she led Alibaba’s business in Pakistan and also helped establish its marketplace business across five Asian markets.
Wolt
Wolt works with various non-restaurant partners, ranging from the company’s own Wolt Market grocery stores to local brick-and-mortar outlets and household names, such as Carrefour, Kesko and MENY.
Last year, the company became one of the top 15 online grocers in Europe and reached its 100th million retail order.
Retail accounts for more than 20% of Wolt’s global sales, the company noted.
