Career growth and brand heritage with Soelvi Grana Slotte at Mondelēz

Monday, September 15, 2025

Let’s start with your journey. You’ve been with Mondelēz International for many years in various roles — what has kept you inspired to grow your career here?

Mondelēz is truly a company with amazing resources. I’d say I’ve almost grown up here, having spent 18 years in many different roles. That’s what’s so great about working here — there are so many opportunities if you’re open to growth, willing to stretch yourself, and think outside the box.

You can grow locally, internationally, and across different functions. Just because you start in one area doesn’t mean you’re locked into that path. There are many different career routes available, and that has given me the chance to explore various parts of the organization over the years, take on new challenges, and keep learning.

You recently took on the role of Marketing Director for Denmark and Norway. What has that transition taught you about leadership - and about yourself?

That’s a great question. When you take on a role like this, you need to be very mindful of how you manage it - understanding the role you play and the impact it has on the rest of the organization. It’s a significant responsibility: for people, for business, and for the brands.

That responsibility requires careful balance. The bigger the responsibility, the more important it becomes to maintain a broad overview and give complete trust to your team to work on every detail. You have to trust your people and empower them to take ownership and make sound decisions.

This becomes much easier when you work with such great teams and talented individuals. You truly feel that you can delegate effectively, grow together, and achieve amazing things as a team.

What makes Mondelēz International a uniquely exciting place to work in marketing?

Mondelēz is an exciting place for marketers because it truly offers the best of both worlds - you have the global side with its structure, systems, processes, expertise, and strategic focus, while at the same time, you have local brands that people in Norway and Denmark genuinely love.

That combination is incredibly inspiring. You can bring global learnings and apply them in ways that resonate locally. Working with brands like Freia and Marabou, which hold a strong position and have rich histories, is truly motivating.

It’s brands we take very seriously. But at the same time, it’s chocolate—so we try not to take ourselves too seriously either.

In your experience, what kind of support and development opportunities can marketers - and especially women in leadership - expect at Mondelēz?

Honestly, I have never experienced gender being an issue at Mondelēz in the Nordics. If you do a good job, the opportunities are there for everyone, and that’s what truly matters.

Gender hasn’t really played a role, and we see many female leaders in the Nordics, which is great. We’re fortunate to live in a region that offers a better balance and more flexibility than many others, making it easier to create fair opportunities for everyone.

Inclusion is something we take very seriously.

Mondelēz is home to some of Norway’s most iconic brands. How does it feel to work with brands like Freia and Kvikk Lunsj that are deeply embedded in Norwegian culture?

It’s incredibly meaningful because these are brands that everyone in Norway has some connection to. When people find out where you work, they immediately light up and say things like, “Oh, do you think you could bring back this flavour?” or “I want my apricot back!”

There’s always a strong sense of engagement, which is amazing. A brand like Freia has been part of the cultural fabric for so many years — it’s a real source of inspiration for us. But it also comes with responsibility. It’s almost like we’re managing a small national treasure, and we need to do right by it.

We have to respect its history and all the people who’ve helped build it into what it is today.

Work – life balance and well-being are top priorities for talents today. How is that supported in your day-to-day at Mondelēz?

We’re flexible and offer the option to work from home when needed. For example, our office in Oslo is centrally located, making it easy for our teams to commute, and we also provide parking for those who drive.

We trust that people will get their work done - that’s what we focus on. Flexibility is key; however, we also know that company culture is built best when people come together.

Additionally, we have a variety of social and cultural initiatives - sports groups, company events, and employee clubs- that foster connection and community. These help us build a strong internal culture across departments. Having the factory right next door in Oslo also allows us to create a shared culture and strong ties throughout the organization.

All of this contributes to a sense of purpose and inspiration in our daily work.

What qualities or mindset do you look for in future talent who wants to thrive in FMCG — and at Mondelēz International specifically?

Things move fast, so we look for people who thrive in a high-paced environment — those who are eager to be challenged, grow, contribute, and create value.

We’re also looking for individuals who want to help build a positive culture in our workplace. It’s important to truly understand your brand and stay connected to what’s relevant for today’s consumers.

With a heritage brand like Freia, you have to work continuously to keep it relevant—you can’t afford to become outdated. That means staying in sync with your consumers and being aware of trends and insights.

You also need a solid understanding of your own business and value chain, because everything is interconnected. That’s what makes marketing at Mondelēz so exciting—we own the whole journey, from strategy and product development to production, design, and finally, communication.

You need a strong overall understanding of how to drive both the brand and the business.

Looking back at your early days at Kraft Foods to Mondelēz International now, what’s one moment or project that stands out as a defining experience for you?

I’d probably say the launch of Walters Mandler back in 2008. We introduced a new chocolate bar, and I worked closely with Walter himself on that project. It wasn’t even part of the original brief — it just tasted so good that we decided it needed to be shared. The question was: what should we call it? We ended up naming it after the man who created it — Walter.

With a very limited budget, Walter and I went on a national tour. He signed chocolate bars, and somehow, we generated massive attention with almost no resources.

It just shows that when you have a strong idea based on a genuine story, you can go far — even without big budgets. You just need creativity and a willingness to work hard.

That project really gave me confidence in myself, and the organization gained confidence in me too. One thing led to another, and now — 18 years later — I’m the Marketing Director for Norway and Denmark.

Finally, what’s something about working at Mondelēz that might surprise people?

I think people might assume that since Mondelēz is such a large, global company, smaller brands like Freia in Norway and Marabou in Denmark wouldn’t matter much. But that’s not true.

Freia and Marabou mean much more than people might expect - they play a bigger role in the organization than you’d think from the outside. That makes the work feel meaningful and challenging in the best way.

There is also a strong sense of heritage - cultural heritage - and a legacy of putting people at the center of how we operate and grow together.