BUCHAREST, Romania, January 17th, 2022 - Hot on the heels of announcing Michael Kaiser as Chief Commercial Officer for Sezamo Romania, Rohlik Group (“Rohlik”) is revealing that Tomáš Chadzivasilis will step in as its Chief Executive Officer. Sezamo.ro is the new Romanian grocery delivery service being launched by Rohlik Group - one of Europe's leading online grocery players.
From Spring 2022 onwards, Romanian consumers will experience a new way of shopping on www.sezamo.ro, with a focus on high-quality fresh produce and goods from local farmers and artisans, as well as top international and own private label brands. Sezamo’s mission, like that of Rohlik Group’s in other European markets, is to help Romanians lead happier and healthier lives. This is attained through use of its own end-to-end world-leading technology and logistics services, focus on sustainable operations including electrical and gas powered vehicles or human-powered cargo bikes, strong partnerships with local growers and, where possible, environmentally friendly packaging and reusable shopping bags.
Tomáš Chadzivasilis has a background in technology and services in Czech Republic and Romania that perfectly fits the needs of Rohlik Group and Sezamo. He joins Sezamo.ro with over twenty years of experience in management, much of that at the CEO level. His career can be summed up as one of leading during transformations and management of change. Be it running a major Prague-based telecom provider acquired by T-Mobile, managing a different telecom company to a successful exit, extensive experience in Romania including responsibility for implementation of various services in Romtelecom (Telekom Romania) and later as CEO of NextGen Communications, his experience is exactly what a tech company like Sezamo requires: the ability to deliver an amazing service to hundreds of thousands, and ultimately, millions of customers.
“Sezamo will become the top player in the online grocery delivery market across Romania. The fact that we are already quickly growing in many countries confirms that the business model of Rohlik Group is exactly what customers need and appreciate and I look forward to adapting it to the Romanian market. Having myself been a loyal client of Rohlik in the Czech Republic since day one, I am thrilled to join the group and excited to deliver the same amazing experience to our Romanian customers. Our service based on our ‘Eat Well, Live Well’ mission will enable our customers to lead happier and healthier lives, by delivering great food with excellent customer experience,” says Tomáš Chadzivasilis, Chief Executive Officer in Romania.
Tomáš brings a hands-on ‘making things happen’ approach, always challenging the status quo to deliver the best service to customers. His role has been to transform businesses, making them more customer centric. His very diverse skill set is optimal for a new online retail company like Sezamo, as he can lead and deliver results during any phase the company finds itself in, from ideation and launch to value increase and growth.
“Tomáš's varied, yet complementary expertise fulfills the needs of Rohlik Group and Sezamo for Romania perfectly” states Tomáš Čupr, Rohlik Group founder, CEO and majority shareholder, adding: “His passion for building and developing companies, teams, and products from scratch, as well as his broad experience in technology retail, creative approach and the strong management team that supports him are the key factors that make him the most suitable choice for the CEO position of Sezamo Romania.”
In the first year, Sezamo will be able to deliver approximately 8.000 different items directly to customers’ homes within 2 hours from order placement straight from day 1. Fresh regional produce such as fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, and bakery goods complement the complete range of products provided by Sezamo, along with international brands and Rohlik’s own private label products. Romanians will thus have, in 2022, a better everyday alternative for their supermarket shopping.
In order to meet all the needs of Rohlik’s vendors and customers, a dedicated 10.000 sqm warehouse in CTPark Bucharest North will be customized and will include dedicated storage spaces with controlled temperature for the fresh produce that Sezamo will offer. The location was of key importance, as it needs to be accessible both to the customer delivery teams, as well as to suppliers.
About Rohlik Group
Founded in 2014 in the Czech Republic, Rohlik Group is one of Europe's leading online grocery delivery services. Already active in the Czech Republic (Rohlik.cz), Hungary (Kifli.hu), Austria (Gurkerl.at) and Germany (Knuspr.de) it is launching in Romania, Italy and Spain in 2022 under the Sezamo brand for these three countries. Deploying world-leading technology & logistics to deliver a huge range of quality products (17 000 SKUs+), it can offer a 15-minute delivery window with delivery as soon as within 90 minutes of placing an order in some countries. As a tech company, it is data-driven in everything it does. By owning its end-to-end operations, including having all technology in-house, customers are provided with a superior shopping experience including delivery of the freshest food from local farmers and artisans, as well as a broad supermarket selection and its own private label brands. The company is dynamic and growing rapidly and raised EUR 290 million in 2021, attaining unicorn status. Group turnover exceeded €300 million in 2020.
For career enquiries visit www.career.sezamo.ro
For press enquiries, contact Robert Ratiu at [email protected]