Joanna Anastasiou-Milne
Fractional CEO, COO, Supply Chain and Procurement. MCIPS.
A commercial and supply chain leader who has managed global supply chains, built teams from scratch and delivered the bottom line, across every continent.
Opening
Joanna has spent 20 years operating at board level across supply chain, procurement, QSR, contract catering and food retail in the GCC and UK. She is as comfortable negotiating with a supplier as with a customer, and she builds the team around her to deliver results long after the engagement ends.
She started in fashion, travelling regularly across Asia, then moved into food, first in purchasing and then as a generalist leading whole businesses. She has sourced for the major retail multiples and scaled artisan producers on a farm-to-fork model. She has built sales teams, improved the bottom line, and run 3PL and 4PL supply chains at a scale that is rare. That range makes her an all-round leader with a clear understanding of every part of a business.
Her combination is unusual in the GCC advisory market. Few people hold both the commercial and procurement seniority and the hands-on technical food production depth, from HACCP sign-off to central kitchen commissioning to GCC product registration.
Multilingual in English, Greek and Italian.
What Joanna brings
- Commercial growth and new business. Led all commercial functions at Cravia including marketing, event sales and B2B development, driving 30% category sales growth. Built B2B relationships at Compass Group across Premier League clubs, City banks and the NHS.
- Procurement and cost. Saved $6M in the first 90 days at Cravia. Recovered £14M a month of non-compliant vendor spend at Sodexo. Cut 5% of COGS across an AED 96M spend base.
- Supply chain transformation. 3PL and 4PL transition, warehouse consolidation, S&OP, and systems rollout across 78 outlets in a record 45 days.
- Food safety and production. HACCP from blueprint to authority sign-off, BRC and SALSA accreditation, central kitchen design and GCC product registration across the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
- Founder and operator. Co-founded The Chef’s Deli and founded four restaurants. Currently fractional CEO of a UAE hospitality group.
Selected track record
Group Commercial Director
Cravia, UAE and KSA
$6M in 90 days
Led the commercial, procurement and supply chain agenda through a PE-backed turnaround and sale preparation across 110 outlets. Moved the supply chain to a 3PL and 4PL model and led the systems rollout across 78 outlets in 45 days.
Board-level procurement and supply chain
Sodexo UK and Ireland
£14M / month
Managed supply chain across more than 2,500 sites and recovered £14M a month of non-compliant vendor spend.
Commercial leadership
Compass Group UK and Ireland
Board level
Board-level B2B relationships across Premier League clubs, City banks, major corporates and the NHS. Launched new products into Waitrose, Sainsbury's and M&S.
Co-Founder and COO
The Chef's Deli, UK
£6M
Built a HoReCa food distribution business from scratch with more than 250 clients, and co-produced handmade cheese and charcuterie for Michelin-starred and premium accounts. SALSA accredited.
Retail food manufacturing
UK retail multiples
Developed and produced fresh pesto, olive mixes and specialty ingredients for retail launch into Waitrose, Sainsbury's and M&S, with multiple first-to-market UK product launches.
Current fractional engagements
UAE hospitality group
Fractional CEO of a UAE hospitality group, and interim support to a major GCC restaurant rollout.
Selected numbers
$6M saved in 90 days
78 outlets live in 45 days
45 years combined at board and operating level
In their words
“Jo is a strategic, commercially astute leader who combines vision with exceptional execution. I recommend her without reservation to any CEO, Chairman or investor seeking a transformative operational leader.”
“Jo knows sales, purchasing, restaurants, operations, finance, the whole nine yards. Her can-do mentality is incredible. She is a true leader.”