Pros
At the end of 2018, Lavazza acquired Mars Drinks in West Chester, PA - a company that I joined in 2017. I joined for the exceptional values-driven and egalitarian culture. The Lavazza Group adopted our Associate model, and even rolled out new Lavazza Values which were very much in line with the legacy values from Mars. The Lavazza family rolled out a New Humanity campaign, and everything was looking up… until mid-2020.
Cons
After COVID hit, the NY office management took over the entire US market including the West Chester operations, with a re-structuring announced at the end of October. Our new president and my new direct manager both came from a consulting background, where I imagine they were quite successful. Intelligent individuals. However, they do not appear to espouse the Lavazza values that we were so hopeful about. They lead through intimidation and dictation, with an insecure hold on power and control. They do not outwardly appear to have the experience or desire to lead by hiring managers that they can trust to improve the business, and leveraging values to motivate them towards continuous improvement.
