NETHERLANDS – Nutreco, producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products, has announced a number of changes in its Executive Committee (ExCo).
Harm de Wildt, serving as Nutreco Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive officer of Trouw Nutrition, will be retiring from the company at the end of the year after 19 years of service.
His role will be taken over by Saskia Korink from August 15, who is currently the Innovation Director at Trouw Nutrition, a subsidiary of Nutreco.
“Harm has been a stalwart of the company for many years and his tireless enthusiasm and commitment has brought about lasting positive impact in Nutreco,” says Nutreco CEO Rob Koremans.
“Over recent years, he has successfully introduced a Trouw Nutrition global strategy focused on nutrition, health and precision farming while developing an innovation strategy for the division. We will miss Harm and wish him all the best in future,” he added.
Until the end of the year, Harm will support Saskia in her transition into the role and lead a number of key projects.
“I have really enjoyed the past 19 years at Nutreco and will be sad to leave but I’m excited about the new phase in my life. In Saskia I believe we have found the right leader for Trouw Nutrition, with the skills and knowledge to successfully take the division into the future,” Harm commented.
Saskia joined Nutreco just under two years ago as Innovation Director and has been pivotal in bringing R&D and marketing closer together and in the success of Trouw Nutrition’s newly created Species Councils. Her successor will be announced in due course.
She has also implemented a customer-focused innovation approach to accelerate bringing innovation to the market.
Prior to joining Nutreco, she worked at Cargill for over 10 years in a number of roles, including as leader of the Latin American Cocoa business and as Global Marketing Director for Cargill’s Animal Nutrition business.
She also held senior-level positions in a number of other companies, including Chief Operating Officer responsible for ABS at Genus plc.
“I’m delighted that Saskia has accepted the role and excited that she joins the ExCo and will bring value, not just to Trouw Nutrition but also in leading the Nutreco as a whole,” Rob says.
“Through her work over the past two years, she has proven herself to have a deep knowledge about our industry and our value chain, and she has already made significant positive changes in the way we develop and market our products.”
Meanwhile, with effect from August 1, Nutreco’s Chief Innovation Officer Viggo Halseth will step down from the ExCo in order to focus completely on his current role of exploring opportunities in the area of alternative aquaculture farming, such as Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS).
“As the number of alternative aquaculture farming innovations continues to grow, the time needed to assess potential partners, investments or projects is growing too,” Viggo explains.
“Moving forward, as I can focus solely on this exciting area, we will be able to continue to develop our strategy and move quickly when we see the right opportunities.”
Viggo will continue to report to Rob Koremans.
“Alternative aquaculture farming is a key component in fulfilling Nutreco’s mission of Feeding the Future. I’m delighted that Viggo is freeing up his time to focus on this and I’m excited by the possibilities we see,” Rob added.
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