Amoroso | Testimonials

Amoroso | recognised and used by opinion leaders

I prefer to let others speak for my character and competence. The following have been kind enough to provide me with testimonials. To read them, please click on the names below.

Warren Ackerman
Head of European Consumer Staples Research, Barclays
“I have known James as a colleague and competitor. He is respected and trusted by his peers. As a sell-side consumer sector analyst, James understood what investors wanted, had deep sector knowledge, made credible arguments and was persuasive. I was pleased to support James with CAGE (Consumer Analyst Group of Europe), itself a testimony to his ability to understand the needs of the sell side, buy side and corporates, and to bring all three parties together to help them achieve their different objectives.”
Jan Bennink
NED Coca-Cola European Partners, former Chairman & CEO Douwe Egberts, former President & CEO Numico
“I first got to know James during my Numico days. We invited him to our investor events for his role as European food sector analyst. His questions were always relevant and insightful, and his food industry knowledge was evident. He also had an insight into the human element often missed by others. I especially enjoyed James’ fresh - and often humorous - perspectives on the food industry outside of the formal sessions.”
Zoran Bogdanovic
Chief Executive Officer, Coca-Cola HBC
“When I took James’ IR Masterclass, I had been CEO for three years and already felt quite comfortable with analysts and investors. So, I was pleased to have gained new, valuable insights and a deeper understanding of what the investment community really needs. As a result, I feel I can add more value and contribute more to our financial communication and investor relations strategy.”
Peter Brabeck
Chairman Emeritus and former Chairman & CEO Nestlé
“James has a deep and solid understanding of the food industry and its key players and, as such, he is one of the most knowledgeable people of our industry. This allows him to detect trends and patterns that others might miss. The many years that James has spent analysing Nestlé – its categories, its strategies, its culture – has allowed him to gain a realistic perspective on our Company.”
John Dawson
Head of Investor Relations Coca-Cola HBC, former Chairman IR Society, former Head of IR RB, Rolls-Royce, National Grid and Cadbury
“James has always impressed me with his instinctive grasp of investor relations. Not everyone understands the complexity of a modern business – its products, services, management and processes – but James does. He has brought that to many situations. It also helped him found CAGE – for many years one of the best forums for consumer goods investors to meet companies and their senior management. His insights would add value to any investor relations team.”
Martin Hug
Group Chief Financial Officer Lindt & Sprüngli, responsible for Finance, IT, Purchasing and Sustainability
“James has worked for Lindt on an ad-hoc basis since 2008 as investor relations advisor. Shortly after I took over the role of CFO in 2017, I took his IR Masterclass. In just one afternoon, James was able to take me deep inside the investment community to understand what truly drives the share price. He was able to highlight best practice as well as correct some false preconceptions. I can recommend James’ course to anyone needing to communicate and interact closely with investors and analysts.”
Sally Jones
Head of Strategy, Digital & Technology and former Head of IR British Land, former Director of IR and Corporate Communications Cadbury
“I know James primarily as a food sector analyst from my time at Cadbury. His supply of questions at investor events was endless, interesting and always pertinent. In this way, he thoroughly tested both our senior management and our investor relations capabilities. I personally found James to be a very direct, honest, amusing and likeable character.”
Patrice Lambert de Diesbach
Head of Investor Relations Orange Group, Board Member CLIFF (French IR association), former Head of Investor Relations Carrefour
“I first met James when he became Carrefour’s IR advisor in 2010 and 2011. It was a difficult period, with significant internal and external challenges. James quickly understood the issues that were holding back the company's share price and was able to recommend and convince management of important strategic and tactical improvements to the structure, style and content of our financial communication. James’ ongoing advice was invaluable, especially in special situations, ranging from investor days to strategy presentations and from devising and delivering new financial guidance to managing results disappointments and profit warnings. I also appreciated his support during long, intense and often politically charged senior management meetings.
At Orange, when our Polish business was planning a major strategy relaunch at an investor day in late 2017, set against a history of false starts, I knew that nothing could be left to chance. I had no hesitation in recommending James. Within just a few days, he had become sufficiently expert on Orange Polska and the telecoms market to be fully effective. James went on to make important contributions the structure, content, text, design and layout of all the presentations, including scripts, and supported the management team during the final rehearsal and Q&A. The sustained share price outperformance ever since speaks for itself. As a result, we have retained James for all Orange France CMDs since 2019 and for the Orange Polska CMD in 2021.
Since then, James has taken the entire French IR team through his IR Masterclass. They all enjoyed the training and even the experienced members gained many valuable new insights.
James is a consummate communications professional who can see the big picture and get into the detail. He executes reliably and possesses unique abilities and insights that set him far above his peers. I would not hesitate in recommending James as an IRO or IR advisor to any company, regardless of sector.”
Tim Nicol
Managing Director The Make-Innovation-Happen Centre Limited
“I worked alongside James at Masterfoods (Mars) when he ran the Foodservice Marketing function and I was Product Group Manager for Dolmio. James was, and is, passionate about high standards in food and life in general, and is a principled guy who won't compromise or succumb to political agendas. He manages to be fact and data driven but retains his natural creative flair and is inspirational and fun to be around. A 'Chef' in every sense.”
Lars Olofsson
Former CEO Carrefour, former Executive Board Member Nestlé
“I always found James Amoroso to be an intriguing and insightful person. As an equity analyst, his views and opinions on the global food industry often challenged long-held, strategic assumptions. As an investor relations consultant to Carrefour, James added value to all our financial communication, including press releases, presentations, presentation scripts and Q&A. His advice was invaluable, and his points were always clearly and forcefully made.”
Paul Polman
Former Chief Executive Officer Unilever
“James has a deep knowledge and understanding of the global food industry. His extensive experience has provided him with the ability to see long-term strategic trends and opportunities whilst at the same time having a critical view and understanding of today's realities. James is one of those rare individuals who understands the integrities of what makes businesses work from both an external and internal perspective. His deep industry knowledge, critical but constructive analysis and his pleasant, inquisitive style forces management continually to raise the bar. James’ honest, open and effective way of working has made him a trusted partner.”
Franck Riboud
Honorary Chairman and former Chairman & CEO Danone
“James has analysed Danone since the time when my father ran the company. Few outsiders know our company better. I always appreciated his well-considered, financial and food industry questions; they often provided me with an opportunity at investor meetings to make an important point. His analyses were always insightful and interesting, his opinions always honest and realistic. These qualities made James Amoroso a food industry reference for the financial community and a pleasure to work with.”
Sir Martin Sorrell
CEO S4 Capital, founder WPP
“James invited us to speak at the inaugural CAGE Conference in 2010. The programme read like the ‘Who’s Who’ of the global packaged goods industry, so we accepted immediately and went on to become regular speakers at his annual event. James’ informal feedback also helped us improve our presentations. He was clearly at ease straddling the corporate and investment worlds. As a result, our Deputy CFO engaged him in improving our own financial communications. James reengineered our approach on investor relations releases to focus attention on key data and messages and to present our detailed results and guidance in a clear and user-friendly manner. At the same time, he adapted and added our corporate identity to his template. The results were extremely effective and professional.”
H. Todd Stitzer
Advisory Board Member Hamlin Capital Management, former CEO and Board Member Cadbury
“James manages to see the big picture just by looking at the scattered parts of the jigsaw. His ability as an outsider to foresee food industry events and trends is impressive. His knowledge of the global chocolate industry is extensive. James’ questions to senior management are perceptive, targeted and always challenging. His messaging is fact-based, his personal style friendly with a good sense of humour.”
Pierre-André Térisse
Group CFO Lipton Teas & Infusions, former CFO Coty and Danone
“James helped put Danone’s financial communication back on the right track, at a time when it was challenged. Thanks to James’ IR Masterclass and on-the-job training, two new Heads of Investor Relations were able get into the job quickly and efficiently, gaining valuable insights into the investment community as well as important tools and tricks of the trade. James gave us relevant and simple advice which helped transform the investor relations function into an asset for Danone. James always remained calm and cheerful, which was a big help in managing the pressure that comes with this job.”
Wolfgang Werlé
Former Deputy Chairman Aryzta, former Chairman & CEO Hiestand
“James knew Hiestand well, having actively participated in the company’s IPO in 1998. He instinctively separates fads from trends. In early 2004, James accurately predicted the precise timing of the peak and decline of the low-carb phenomenon and explained, in simple terms, the consumer behaviour behind this development - at a time when the global food industry was schizophrenic.”
Martyn Wilks
NED, former CEO Hovis, former Executive Managing Director Dairy Crest, former President US Snackfood Mars
“I first worked with James on cross-divisional projects at Mars. He was a strong marketer with an ability both to deal with the big picture and to get down into the detail. As an equity analyst, he developed a huge reputation for his ability to spot the trends and issues in the food and consumer goods industries before others did. He is the go-to person for publications like the Financial Times when they want to understand what's going on. Their slogan should read: No James, No Comment.”