ADM Cocoa is restructuring its organisation into five key regions and business units, as it looks to enhance the level of service and support offered to customers by its global cocoa and chocolate team.
Part of ADM’s ongoing commitment to providing premium cocoa solutions, the reorganisation sees a number of appointments and role expansions:
- Grant Belden has been named General Manager, Global Trading, Sourcing and Semi-Finished.
- Benoit Villers will lead Global Gourmet, and Marketing. His responsibilities include the recently launched deZaan™ Gourmet collection, which has been specially developed to meet growing consumer demand for high quality cocoa products. After a successful launch in Asia, ADM will continue to focus on this new gourmet line of cocoa products specially developed for artisan bakers and chefs.
- Chris Beetge now heads up Europe and the Middle East and Dennis Whalen will remain in charge of the Americas. Yeong Chye continues as Managing Director, Cocoa Asia, where ADM has recently expanded its cocoa processing facility in Singapore.
Scott Walker continues to head the team as President, ADM Cocoa. He comments: “The five leaders will have full business responsibility for all activities in their regions and business units, including commercial, sales, product development and operations. We are confident that, with such a strong team in place, we can continue to draw on our knowledge of cocoa and the rich heritage of deZaan™ to deliver great results for our customers that surpass consumers’ expectations.”
In addition, Kai-Uwe Ostheim will become General Manager, Global Sustainability Cocoa as part of ADM’s ongoing commitment to a sustainable future for cocoa farming. He will take a leadership position in moving the global sustainability programme forward. He will partner with stakeholders involved in the cocoa supply chain, working closely with ADM’s global customer base to provide sustainable cocoa and chocolate solutions. Kai-Uwe will also be responsible for ADM’s flagship cocoa sustainability programme – Socially and Environmentally Responsible Agricultural Practices (SERAP).
Rinus Heemskerk will expand his role as Global Director of Innovation. His areas of responsibility will include the Advantage Centre network, where customers can work alongside ADM’s technical experts to tailor formulations to add value throughout the development process, as well as the ‘Less is More’ programme, which offers solutions to customers that help to contain costs without compromising quality.
Tim Coonan has been named Vice President, Global Risk Cocoa and will now chair ADM’s Global Cocoa Risk Committee.
As a full service provider, ADM offers a number of unique, differentiated cocoa and chocolate solutions, including D11EB dark cocoa powder, Fresco Cacao F11FR powder, DZFM 7000 cocoa mass mild non-bitter cocoa products and Astra A cocoa butter.
About ADM
For more than a century, the people of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) have transformed crops into products that serve vital needs. Today, 30,000 ADM employees around the globe convert oilseeds, corn, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses. With more than 270 processing plants, 420 crop procurement facilities, and the world’s premier crop transportation network, ADM helps connect the harvest to the home in more than 160 countries. For more information about ADM and its products, visit www.adm.com.
Source: Archer Daniels Midland Company
