Aquafeed and aquaculture equipment firm Grobest Group CEO Samson Li will be replaced by Hua Du.
Du, who comes to Grobest after 11 years as president of global business units at chemical firm Solvay, will have “a mandate to further accelerate the group’s growth and expansion,” according to a press release from the Taoyuan City, Taiwan-based company.
Grobest currently operates in eight markets across Asia, with 17 feed and pre-mix factories and approximately 3,500 employees. Grobest also conducts research and development on functional feed products and provides a full range of services and technical assistance to farmers throughout Asia, including pond maintenance, water treatment, and soil and disease testing.
“Grobest has set the standard in aquaculture in Asia and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to help drive the company into its next phase of growth,” Du said. “Samson has successfully steered the company through a period of significant change and I now look forward to working with the entire team to deliver on exciting growth and development ambitions.”
Grobest is in the midst of a management transition, as earlier in September, the company appointed Ko Chi-Kang to serve as chairman of its board of directors. Li will continue to be attached to Grobest as a senior advisor. The moves are part of the company’s evolution “from a successful, ambitious family run business with a long history of innovation into an Asia market-leading company and one of the world’s top aquaculture feed groups,” it said in a press release.
“My past three years as CEO have been immensely fulfilling. We have helped Grobest transition to become a true regional champion,” Li said. “This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our incredible staff and I wish them all the best for an exciting and prosperous future under the leadership of my successor Hua Du, as I transition to my new senior advisor role.”
Grobest Vice-Chairman Ola Nordquist, who also serves as head of the Nordics at global private equity firm Permira, which owns 50 percent of Grobest, said Du’s experience driving Solvay to grow into a company with EUR 5 billion (USD 5.8 billion) in annual revenue, including serving on the company’s executive committee, and his previous 13 years of experience in the electronic materials group at Rohm and Haas Company, will serve Grobest well.
“We look forward to our continued relationship with Samson as a senior advisor and are delighted that Hua has joined Grobest as its new CEO. With his extensive Asia and global leadership experience, and his strong focus on people, customers, and technology, we are confident Hua has the right mix of capabilities to lead Grobest into its successful future,” Nordquist said. “We have ambitious plans and are well-positioned for our next phase of growth, cementing and building on our leadership position in advanced functional performance feed for the aquaculture industry.”
Photo courtesy of Grobest
