Ingredion switches up leadership with new appointments

05 Dec 2017 --- Ingredion has announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved changes to the company's executive leadership team to fill vacancies created by the promotion of Jim Zallie to president and CEO on January 1, 2018. Zallie is currently executive vice president, global specialties and president, Americas.

Jorgen Kokke will be promoted to executive vice president, global specialties, and president, North America from next February and Pierre Perez Y Landazuri will be promoted to senior vice president and president, EMEA effective January 1, 2018.

He and Ernesto Pousada, senior vice president and president, South America, will become officers of the company and members of the executive leadership team, effective January 1, 2018.

Kokke will be responsible for leading the US$3.5 billion North America business, overseeing all operational and strategic management decisions. Additionally, he will lead the global specialties focus for the Company. 

Kokke joined Ingredion in 2009 as vice president and general manager of EMEA. He served as senior vice president and general manager, Asia-Pacific, from 2014 - 2016, and has been senior vice president and president, Asia-Pacific and EMEA since January 2016. 

Prior to Ingredion, he was vice president, Corbion (formerly CSM), where he was responsible for the global food and nutrition business. Kokke has a master's degree in economics from the University of Amsterdam.

Perez Y Landazuri joined Ingredion in 2016 as vice president and general manager EMEA, a position he continues to fill until his promotion. 

Before Ingredion, he had been with CP Kelco, a producer of hydrocolloids, as vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, and has held executive positions with Hercules, BASF and Rohm and Haas.  

He holds a master's degree in chemical process engineering from ENSCP Graduate School of Chemistry (now Chimie ParisTech) in Paris, France.

Pousada joined Ingredion in February 2016 in his current role from Suzano Papel e Celulose, a pulp and paper company based in Brazil, where he served as the chief operating officer. 

Prior to Suzano, he held various positions with Dow Chemical for 15 years. Pousada holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Instituto Maua de Technologia in Brazil and a specialization in business administration from Fundacao Instituto de Administracao in Brazil.

A successor to Kokke as senior vice president and president Asia-Pacific will be announced at a later date.

“Ingredion's success is driven by our people. We have an excellent leadership team and I look forward to working with them as we implement Ingredion's long-term strategy and continue to create shareholder value,” says Zallie, Ingredion CEO elect.