Novus International, Inc., recently announced changes to its corporate structure, with the areas of innovation and R&D becoming even more prominent in the organization.
Alfred Zimmerman is joining the executive leadership team as chief innovation officer.
“Innovation needs to become part of our DNA,” said CEO, Dan Meagher. “It is an integral part of our long-term strategic plans and must be elevated within the organization.”
Zimmerman has been with Novus since 2015, most recently serving as senior director of strategic innovation and project management. He was instrumental in the partnership with biotechnology company, Agrivida, which was announced in January.
In the new role, Zimmerman will work with the company’s R&D teams to identify ways to grow the specialty product line while also looking outside Novus for opportunities to bring new technologies and services to customers.
He said he is aiming to instill an innovative mindset in his colleagues.
“Innovation is more than just products,” Zimmerman said. “It’s bringing new thoughts and direction to our technologies and capabilities as an organization.”
Uwe Ranft has also been named as chief strategic marketing and technology officer. In this role, Ranft will focus on strengthening the company’s strategic marketing and technical service teams and oversee the strategic accounts business.
Ranft has been with Novus for 17 years and most recently served as vice president and chief commercial officer CCO for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
With Ranft stepping away from that role, Ed Galo, currently vice president and CCO for Americas, will take on the role of chief commercial officer for EMEA as well.
The Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER) in the US has appointed Lara Moody as its new executive director.
Moody is tasked with providing visionary leadership to IFEEDER’s activities; in that role she will focus on program development, strategic partnerships, and collaborative resourcing. The position involves her working closely with IFEEDER’s board of trustees and committee members to advance the public charity’s research and education mission.
The executive director also collaborates with the trade group, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), to pursue and communicate the institute’s work, creating opportunities to engage donors and furthering the dialogue on key issues impacting the feed industry.
“As the animal food industry evolves, innovates and works to address emerging global challenges, we need visionary leadership to ask the tough questions, provide reliable data and research and engage with stakeholders and the food chain to advance solutions and understand the issues that impact our business,” said IFEEDER's President and AFIA’s CEO, Constance Cullman. “Lara’s demonstrated thought leadership, experience building initiatives and programs, background in sustainability and success in managing industry and academic research programs, will position IFEEDER to successfully fulfill its research and education focus for the future.”
Moody joined IFEEDER from The Fertilizer Institute, where she served as the vice president of stewardship and sustainability.
Aquaculture industry stalwart, Brett Glencross, will become the technical director for IFFO, the marine ingredients organization, from June this year.
Glencross has been a professor of nutrition at the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling in Scotland since 2016. He has also been chair of the scientific committee of the International Society for Fish Nutrition and Feeding (ISFNF), and has worked in various academic, institutional, and industrial roles across Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
IFFO director general, Petter Johannessen, commented: “Brett is a very experienced aquaculture professional and has an excellent track record in managing research programs. He has a highly acknowledged profile in the aquaculture industry, with a research background spanning the application of functional feeds for animal health, refining nutritional requirements, and the use of nutritional modelling strategies, as well as a strong background in raw material assessment.”
Glencross said he was delighted to be offered the opportunity to join the team at IFFO at a time when science is crucial to understand the future trends affecting the development of fish feed ingredients.
“Technical projects led by IFFO contribute a great deal to increasing our knowledge on marine ingredients and driving change for the benefit of the whole value chain, and especially the aquaculture sector.”
Ocean Harvest Technology (OHT) has announced that Dr Hadden Graham has joined as managing director of its animal feed business, to help support the company in its next phase of growth.
OHT produces animal feed ingredients centered on the bioactive ingredients present in different seaweeds.
Most recently, Graham was COO at Folium Science.
He has over 30 years’ experience in building animal feed businesses globally, noted OHT. He holds a PhD in agricultural biochemistry from the Queen’s University of Belfast, followed by a decade in academia in University College Dublin, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Montana State University.
His feed industry experience includes a role as research director at Danisco Animal Nutrition. He was also previously global services director at AB Agri, In addition, he served as president of the European Feed Additives Association (FEFANA).
Omega-3 algae oil producer, Veramaris, a JV between Evonik and DSM, lands industry leading seafood marketing executive, Victoria Parr. She joined the company in March as business development director, North America to anchor further outreach into the US market.
Parr’s seafood credentials are exemplary, said the company. She had director roles at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and at AquaChile.
In her new role, she will look to expand the market for seafood raised on feed that includes marine algae by building enthusiasm with stakeholders all along the value chain in retail and foodservice.
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has announced promotions for six staff who it said have gone above and beyond in serving AFIA’s members and making the association’s programs and processes more efficient and impactful.
AFIA CEO, Constance Cullman, said: “While our industry has grown over the years, so too have our staff’s responsibilities, and we are delighted to take this opportunity at the beginning of our fiscal year to recognize them for all the ways they are representing and engaging our members.”
The following individuals, from the start of this month, were given new titles:
- Kori Chung, formerly AFIA’s legislative and regulatory assistant, is now AFIA’s public policy and certification specialist;
- Shakera Daley, formerly AFIA’s accounting and administrative coordinator, is now AFIA’s accounting and administrative specialist;
- Lacie Dotterweich, formerly AFIA’s communications coordinator, is now AFIA’s manager of communications and social media;
- Mallory Gaines, formerly AFIA’s manager of market access and trade policy, is now AFIA’s director of market access and trade policy;
- Daisy Rodriguez, formerly AFIA’s coordinator of meetings and events, is now AFIA’s registration and events specialist; and
- Gina Tumbarello, formerly AFIA’s director of international policy and trade, is now AFIA’s senior director of international policy and trade.
US feed mill photo credit: GettyImages/akit