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The current head of DSM’s resins and functional materials division, Patrick Niels, will replace Ilona Haaijer as president of DSM Food Specialties from the beginning of August.
DSM said that Niels had led the transformation of its resins and materials unit “into a high-performing, fast-growing business with very high employee engagement”.
A Dutch national, Niels began his career at biotechnology company Gist-Brocades in 1991, and held several marketing and sales roles as well as business management roles before the company was acquired by DSM in 1997. He went on to build his career in increasingly senior roles within DSM, including leading DSM Coating Resins and DSM Desotech before taking charge of DSM Resins & Functional Materials.
He will take charge of the area of Royal DSM responsible for manufacturing speciality food ingredients for some of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers, reporting to group CEO Feike Sijbesma, from 1 August.
Helen Mets will succeed Niels as president of DSM Resins & Functional Materials.
Analysis: Haaijer ‘leaving DSM’
DSM said that Ilona Haaijer ‘has decided to continue her career outside DSM’ after two and a half years as president of DSM Food Specialties. FoodBev has been informed that she intends to write a book on leadership before deciding on her next move.
Haaijer was front-and-centre at the unveiling of its new biotechnology facility at its campus in Delft, in the Netherlands, in April, telling FoodBev that she was excited by the scale-up and laboratory facilities that DSM Food Specialties could offer to smaller companies and individual innovators as part of the investment. She said that a culture of openness was the key to maintaining growth and identifying the next big trend in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
That mantle will now pass to Niels Patrick, who’s been with DSM for 20 years after its acquisition of biotechnology company Gist-Brocades in 1997.
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