Cosentino, a global leader in natural stone, quartz and recycled surfacing, announced the appointment of Eduardo Cosentino as the new CEO for Cosentino North America, which has been under the leadership of founder Roberto Contreras Jr. since its inception in the U.S. This comes after the Cosentino Group acquired full ownership of Cosentino North America at the end of 2009. Contreras will support the transition through the end of 2010 to then pursue new ventures.

“Roberto has been key to the success of Cosentino in North America, and we’re forever grateful for his contributions,” said Francisco Cosentino, President of the Cosentino Group. “He’s been a true partner whom we respect, appreciate and will forever maintain contact with.”

Eduardo Cosentino has served as the Corporate Sales Director for the Cosentino Group for seven years, overseeing sales and marketing efforts for the multi-national company across the globe, including North and Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. His responsibility to the executive committee has permitted him to acquire experience in the aspects of design and implementation of business strategies. Cosentino considers himself a responsible, methodical entrepreneur with a great sense of team work and outstanding capacity to negotiate, create and develop.

“This is a very exciting time for a global company like ours as we focus on developing the U.S. market,” he said. “We are confident that with the experience of our U.S. leadership team, our production capacity and our strategic business model, we will continue to be a leader in the kitchen and bath surfacing market.”

Cosentino, with its current count of over 650 U.S. employees, runs and operates 13 distribution centers and 12 fabrication shops across the U.S., and the company markets its products through a network of about 3,000 independent stone fabricators. Its expansion plans in the U.S. include the opening of Cosentino Centers, a concept already proven an essential fixture in Europe, where Cosentino has its global headquarters.

Eduardo Cosentino is now fully engaged with the U.S. leadership team and plans to continue supporting the efforts of improving the customer experience, delivering a high-value product and increasing consumer demand. He will be attending the Cosentino 100 Conference set for January 30, 2011, where he will address the companies’ top 100 customers and share his long-term plan of expansion in detail.