BENEO, a manufacturer of functional ingredients for food, feed, and pharma, announced the appointment of Olivier Roques as CEO and a new member of its executive board of directors at BENEO GmbH, effective June 1.

With an engineering degree in agronomics and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Roques brings more than three decades of experience within the international ingredients industry to this new role. He started his career in the dairy and flavor industries, followed by more than twenty years in leadership roles in the U.S. and Europe at Agrana Fruit, a world-leading manufacturer of fruit preparations. This included positions in sales, food safety, and quality, and new product development. Prior to his new role at BENEO, Roques was positioned as CEO of Agrana Fruit Europe. 

In addition to being BENEO’s new CEO, he will also be responsible for overseeing all sales and marketing as BENEO’s new chief sales officer, succeeding Dominique Speleers. His appointment comes at a pivotal time as BENEO’s product portfolio of plant-based functional ingredients continues to grow in diversity. 

Commenting on his new role, Roques says: “I’m really looking forward to working with the people and products of BENEO. The portfolio supports the company’s purpose to contribute to better nutrition and health. We will continue to create strategic partnerships with our customers around the globe and adapt to their market needs.

“Our customers value both the sound science supporting our ingredients, as well as the expert know-how and quality we offer them along the entire value chain. I have found a great group of colleagues eager to accelerate our development in that direction, giving me confidence that BENEO will further strengthen this unique chain of expertise to support our customers’ products.” 

Related: Interview: BENEO on innovation, portion sizes in confectionery