National Starch has announced a global restructuring of its business activities from April 2001. Designed to improve efficiency and align operating processes with those of its customers, the move will facilitate rapid and efficient dissemination of new technology and information and speed up manufacturers’ product development cycles. A number of new appointments are also announced which will focus the business on developing opportunities for starch in new applications.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The restructuring sees the creation of two new divisions: the Natural Polymers Group (NPG) which incorporates food, industrial and bio-degradable starches and the Advanced Ingredients Group (AIG) including pharmaceutical, encapsulation and nutritional products.
NPG will be headed by Peter Salis. Salis was previously group vice president of the food and industrial starch divisions and was appointed to the National Starch board in 1999. Salis joined National Starch in 1971 and is based at the company’s US headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
AIG is to be led by Gary Zwiercan who will be appointed to group vice president. Zwiercan was previously senior corporate vice president of the Food Ingredients division. He joined National Starch in 1961 and is also based in Bridgewater. Zwiercan was elected to the board at the end of March 2001.
Mike Croghan has been appointed global business director for National Starch’s nutrition sector and European business director for the company’s pharmaceutical and encapsulation divisions. Croghan joined National Starch in 1994 and has held a number of senior positions including technical manager and market development manager. His focus will be on those products viewed as key to National Starch’s continuing strong development including Novelose – the world’s first resistant food starch – which can be used to increase fibre content of snacks and cereals whilst maintaining consumer appeal.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe new appointments are part of the company’s ongoing programme of focusing services, which last year saw many European operations centred in a single, expanded location in Hamburg, Germany. “The new structure means we are more sharply focused than ever. We are fully in tune with our customers’ needs and will continue our successful development of new products and technologies,” commented William H Powell, chairman and CEO of National Starch.
Starch is one of the most versatile substances found in nature. As the leading expert in both natural and synthetic polymer chemistry, National Starch is at the forefront of developments in starch technology and its applications. Innovations include the award-winning Novation range of functional native food starches – unique in their ability to behave in processing as a modified starch whilst being labelled simply ‘starch’. The Hamburg plant was expanded in part to meet growing demand from both manufacturers and consumers for clean label Novation starches.
For further information, contact National Starch & Chemical, Prestbury Court, Greencourts Business Park, 333 Styal Road, Manchester, M22 5LW, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 161 435 3200. Fax: +44 (0) 161 435 3300. Internet: www.nationalstarch.com
