adapa Group: Experienced Industry expert Noël Kasmi appointed as designated new Group CEO, Dagmar Schmidt joins Advisory Committee

New Leadership underlines group’s ambition of further investments and growth

Packaging specialist adapa Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Noël Kasmi (50) as the Group’s new CEO, effective June 2024. Noël looks back on decades of experience in the industry, most recently in the role of Vice President Marketing at Avery Dennison for the entire EMENA region, where he led a $2B product portfolio including compliance, innovation, strategy, communication, and sustainability. Prior to that, he spent more than 15 years in Sales with increasing responsibility as Key Account Manager, Technical Sales Manager Europe, and later as Vice President Sales for Labels Europe. Outgoing CEO Juan Luís Martínez Arteaga will support the Group’s Advisory Committee in the coming weeks to facilitate a seamless transition.

In addition to the CEO appointment, adapa Group has named Dagmar Schmidt as a new member of its Advisory Committee. Schmidt, an outstanding expert with a focus on customer centricity and commercial excellence,  brings over 20 years of experience and sustainable success in the Flexible Packaging Market which she gained in various commercial leadership roles, including Global Key Account Management mainly at Flint Group. Most recently, she acted as CEO of XSYS, a leading supplier of integrated solutions for flexographic printing, letterpress, and prepress services. She is about to assume the CEO position at Faller Packaging, a leading full solution provider for secondary packaging materials for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.  

George Gravanis, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of adapa: “On behalf of the entire Advisory Committee, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Noël as the future CEO of adapa Group and Dagmar as a new member of the Advisory Committee. Both individuals bring a wealth of experience to the group given their previous decade-long outstanding careers. This will support adapa Group’s strong positioning in the flexible packaging industry. These major appointments underline the group’s ambition of continuous investments and growth. I would also like to thank Juan Luís Martínez Arteaga, who has navigated adapa Group through challenging times since 2021, for his commitment and his hard work.”

In February this year the group announced investments of EUR 50 million, particularly in the printing and extrusion sectors. These investments are a sign of the confidence that adapa, together with its investors, has in the future. It is the company’s aim to deliver superior customer experiences in all areas with Sales & Customer Care and R&D being geared towards market needs. Another integral part of the Group’s overall strategic vision is a comprehensive, consistent focus on sustainability. As a pioneer in the field, adapa offers alternatives to conventional packaging, for example, paper-based materials for the confectionery segment, which work closely with customers to drive the transition to circular models in the area of flexible packaging solutions. The declared aim is not only to produce recyclable products, but also to reduce the environmental impact in terms of resource-saving, waste, and other factors.

Statements

Juan Luís Martínez Arteaga, outgoing CEO: “I am immensely proud of the growth and success we have achieved together. It has been a privilege to lead such a talented and dedicated team. I am grateful for this collaboration and wish the entire adapa Group every success for future challenges.”

Noël Kasmi, designated CEO adapa Group: “I am looking forward to this new task and challenge in my career and consider myself very well equipped for it to guide adapa Group into a new era of growth. adapa Group has positioned itself successfully in the market in recent years and I am excited to be part of the group’s future.”    

Joerund Holterud, Apollo Global Management and member of the Advisory Committee said: “We are pleased to welcome Noël Kasmi as CEO of adapa, who has an excellent track record leading high-performance teams and delivering growth. In this role, Noël will continue to build on the Company’s momentum and execution of the 2026 strategic plan.”

About adapa Group

adapa Group headquartered in Wiener Neudorf, Austria, specialises in innovative, high-quality, and customised high-barrier packaging solutions for the food, tobacco, hygiene, and pharmaceutical industries. With its integrated value chain from sourcing of raw materials, extrusion to printing and converting, the company, which was founded as Schur Flexibles in 2012 and renamed in 2022, generates annual sales of approximately 620 million euros, making it one of the leading companies in the industry in Europe. adapa employs over 2,000 people at 20 sites across Europe, which are highly specialised Centres of Excellence and enjoy technology leader status in their field. Sustainability is at the heart of the company’s business activities.