DIA Group appoints Ricardo Álvarez as new CEO for DIA Spain

Ricardo Álvarez joins DIA as the new CEO of DIA Spain with the task of leading the Company’s turnaround and growth in Spain. This appointment responds to DIA Groups strategy where, in each of the countries in which it operates, DIA places the emphasis on the local business, with experienced teams and led by people with a great knowledge of the local market.

Álvarez has more than 20 years of experience in the food retail sector in Spain and the United States. Throughout his career, the new CEO of DIA Spain has led important cultural change projects and successfully driven customer-centered business growth. The new CEO of DIA Spain has developed most of his professional career at Lidl, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer in Spain and the United States.

“I would like to welcome Ricardo Álvarez and thank him for taking up the leadership of the turnaround that the Company needs in Spain. Álvarez has an outstanding professional career, he is a dynamic and agile coupled with his proven track record focused on achieving ambitious goals with excellent results and with a clear passion for the Client. With his support and experience, I am sure that we will accelerate the process of change that the business needs”, said Karl-Heinz Holland, CEO of the DIA Group who will now focus his efforts on leading the Company’s entire Group strategy.

“My commitment in DIA is with its 26,000 employees and 1,500 franchisees who are dedicated, despite the difficulties, to providing the best service to our customers. I have a deep respect for this Company that has more than 40 years of history and is a reference brand for thousands of Spanish households. I join this great team to make together DIA as the preferred choice for many customers”, added Ricardo Álvarez, CEO of Spain.

Ricardo Álvarez Elena-Career highlights

Ricardo Álvarez read an agricultural engineering with a specialization in Food Processing Industry at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and obtained a Master in Business Administration from the Instituto de Empresa . Álvarez’s professional career has always been linked to the retail sector. He joined the Tesco sale team in Bray (Ireland) and from there he made the leap to the food retail sector in Spain covering various positions in Lidl. While at Lidl he led important expansion, sales and team building projects. From 2013 to 2018, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer in Spain and during recent years for US market.

Grupo DIA

International Food Distributor, DIA, is an international distributor of food and household items that operates in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina, where it markets its products under 5 different formats. Founded in 1979, it has more than 46,500 employees and 6,000 points of sale.