Katharina is a global procurement leader whose career spans some of the most complex sourcing environments in consumer goods — palm oil, oleochemicals, surfactants, soft commodities, dairy, cocoa, and packaging across brands including Dove, Vaseline, and Royal Canin.
Over eight years at Unilever, she rose to Senior Associate Director managing €1B+ in global spend across palm oil, chemicals, logistics, and capital expenditure — building supplier partnerships, embedding sustainable sourcing models, and delivering consistent cost performance across volatile markets. Before that, she managed regional procurement across packaging and commodities at Danone, and spent nearly four years at GIZ advising on natural resources, climate change, and water and sanitation programs in India and West Africa. She also started her career in social and environmental affairs at Adidas — giving her an unusual early foundation in responsible sourcing before it became a mainstream procurement priority.
She now leads procurement at Mars, where she oversees sourcing strategy for Royal Canin North America inside a family-owned business built on long-term thinking and rigorous standards. She holds an MBA from Pforzheim University and completed an exchange program at IIM Ahmedabad, and speaks seven languages.
Found her interesting? Connect with Katharina on LinkedIn
