Ins and outs at Chr. Hansen
Knud Vindfeldt is to step down from the executive board of Chr. Hansen at the end of February, after more than 25 years with the Danish probiotics and enzyme producer.
He joined Chr. Hansen in 1991 and was made head of the Food Cultures & Enzymes Division (FC&E) in 2005, he was further appointed COO and Deputy CEO in 2016.
After February, Vindfeldt is to take on the role of advisor to the CEO for a period of six months, said the company.
Cees de Jong, CEO of Chr. Hansen, said Vindfeldt was one of the key drivers behind the success of that producer in the dairy market: “The results delivered by the FC&E speak for themselves; since 2005, both revenue and EBIT margin have more than doubled."
Chr. Hansen also recently announced that Thomas Schäfer, who is currently employed as vice president at Novozymes, will join the company in the coming weeks as executive vice president and chief scientific officer.
He will report to Cees de Jong, and will become a member of the executive board: “Including Thomas Schäfer into the executive board is a signal of the importance Chr. Hansen places on its innovation and science as an area critical in securing continuous growth.”
Chr. Hansen said Schäfer brings over 20 years of experience in industrial microbiology, R&D, innovation, business development and mergers & acquisitions, has published several papers, and is also the co-inventor on a number of patents.
Schäfer started his career in Novozymes as a PostDoc in 1994 and has held various senior leadership positions in the R&D space in Novozymes since. He has been based in the US for the past three years.
