Azelis Makes Significant Appointment to Grow Asia Pacific

28 Jul 2016 --- Leading global chemicals distributor Azelis has announced strategic organizational changes, including appointing a new CEO for Asia Pacific.

Following a rapid growth trajectory in China and Japan in particular, the team in the region will be enhanced in order to further exploit the potential and accelerate developments.

Azelis is gearing up for its next phase of growth and expansion with the appointment of Laurent Nataf as CEO and president Asia Pacific. He will be based in Singapore from August 1.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, he said: “I am extremely happy and excited about this new challenge. After 13 years in Azelis covering mainly Europe and later China, moving to Singapore with a sole focus on Asia-Pacific is showing the commitment of Azelis for growing our business there.”

“After only three years of presence in Asia-Pacific, we have reached a turnover of over €70 million in 2015 in the region and, a proof of the strong growth momentum we are having in APAC, we are forecasting a turnover of €100 million in 2016.”

“Our ambition is to grow by 10 percent plus over the next couple of year, by 2025. Azelis sales in APAC will represent a 30 percent share of the turnover of the Azelis group. The prime focus will be on organic growth by expanding existing partnerships we have in Europe and in North America.”

“We are delighted to serve our partners by investing in technical expertise, in people and in application labs throughout the region.”

“We also plan to expand our geographical footprint, the next entity to open being Indonesia in the next six months.”

The second key appointment is Anna Bertona, currently chief strategy and principal officer, who will take up the role of chief operating officer EMEA to steer Azelis’ market teams in the region. She is based in Antwerp, Belgium.

by Gaynor Selby