Tahitian Noni International Hires New Managing Director of European Operations

Tahitian Noni International is a global, research-driven bioactive products company that was the first to introduce the health benefits of the noni plant—a bioactive-rich, adaptogenic plant, containing iridoid compounds—to the world outside of Tahiti.

Sep 23 2010 --- Tahitian Noni International (TNI) announced the hiring of Dr. Peter Verdegem as Managing Director of European Operations. Dr. Verdegem brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with him and will be based in the London, UK office of TNI. He will report to Rob Johnson, Executive Vice President, who will also continue to support Europe. Tahitian Noni International is a global, research-driven bioactive products company that was the first to introduce the health benefits of the noni plant a bioactive-rich, adaptogenic plant, containing iridoid compounds to the world outside of Tahiti.

Dr. Verdegem is a native of the Netherlands, and has pursued a professional career in bringing nutritional life-changing inventions to the market in a credible, sustainable and profitable way. He joins Tahitian Noni from the corporate headquarters of Danone Medical Nutrition where he accelerated business growth by implementing a world-wide best-in-class stakeholder advocacy development program to support their 1 billion Euro market.  He did this in the complex international business environment of nutrition by creating strong support of healthcare professionals, key opinion leaders, insurance companies, regulators and politicians. He has a proven track record of successful management of cross-divisional organizations with a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds.

He is an all-round nutrition business professional, who has overseen all aspects of running a business in today's increasingly complex world.  During his tenure as academic researcher and Chief Science Officer of an international nutrition company, he was responsible for the scientific development and clinical substantiation of various nutritional products.  Also, while leading the European marketing department for the same company, he has successfully launched and rolled-out several dietary supplement products throughout the complex regulatory European market. He has also overseen cost-optimization projects and technical product development of new nutritional products. Dr. Verdegem is particularly passionate about the entrepreneurial business model of Tahitian Noni, of which he has in-depth knowledge as a result of his 5 years of experience while serving in several leadership positions in an international network marketing company.

He combines a Ph.D. in natural sciences from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands with an MBA from the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University in Utah. Dr. Verdegem is fluent in English, Dutch, German, Swedish and French.  He has lived and worked together with his wife Petra and two children in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and the United States and will now relocate to the United Kingdom.