Adrian Lawlor is Group Chief Marketing Officer at Kepak Group, an innovative €1.75bn Irish-owned Food Business which has significant market positions in the Red Meat, Chilled Prepared Foods, Foodservice and Food-to-Go markets. In this role he has leadership responsibility for the Insight, Innovation, NPD and Marketing teams as well as responsibility for leading the strategic planning process. His approach to leadership is highly collaborative and people focused, underpinned by strong commercial acumen.
Adrian joined Kepak as a graduate in 2002 and after an initial 4 years in a variety of marketing roles supporting the early stages of growth for Rustlers in the UK, he went on to spend 10 years in a number of senior Commercial and Business Development positions across Kepak’s Irish, European and UK businesses.
He was appointed Marketing & Business Development Director of the Consumer Foods Division in 2016 and as part of this, Adrian led a significant evolution of the Marketing and Category Insight team structures and played a key role in evolving organizational ways of working. This led to a significant period of success for the Rustlers brand which has become a Top 100 brand in the UK, driven by award winning marketing and innovation initiatives. After assuming responsibility for the integration and development of the Insight, Innovation and Marketing teams across Kepak’s value-added businesses in 2019, he became Kepak Group Chief Marketing Officer in 2021.
Adrian is a member of the Steering Group of the Brand Forum, a community established by Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board) to promote thought leadership and best practice in Marketing for Irish Food and Drink Companies.
Adrian is also an accomplished musician, singer and composer. He has featured regularly as a performer on National Radio in Ireland, has had his compositions recorded by leading Irish folk artists and has performed at many prestigious festivals and events in Ireland and internationally.
