Dutch company Veramaris steps up US operations
JUST one year after production started at its facility in Nebraska USA,Veramaris has announced the appointment of three new members to bolster the team and deliver even further growth for the business.
Alexander Hillmann joins as Chief Financial Officer from parent company Evonik. He has worked for the chemicals giant for almost 20 years in a number of different roles in Europe and the USA.
Speaking about the appointment Alexander said:
‘This is a wonderful opportunity to work for a new company that is really making a difference. I hope the knowledge I bring will help Veramaris grow in the next exciting stage of its development.’
He takes over from Frank Beissmann who has returned to Evonik after three successful years on secondment, as part of the founding team that helped launch Veramaris.
Yann Le Gal takes the brand new role of Retail Manager, Europe. He has a wealth of sales experience from the seafood industry in France having been Sales Director at Mytilimer and Sales Manager at the Marine Harvest Group (now Mowi). He has a deep knowledge of the sector having earned a Diploma in aquaculture from the Groupe Ecole superieure d’Agriculture d’Angers, followed by a Master’s degree in Aquaculture and Economics from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
Yann’s experience will be invaluable as Veramaris collaborates with partners across the entire value chain, an approach which has helped deliver tangible results for them. Herve Hart
mann is becoming General Manger Veramaris LLC, based at their production facility in Blair, Nebraska. A biochemical engineer by training, Herve has a wealth of experience having spent more than twenty years with Veramaris parent company DSM. He spent time in a range of production roles in Germany, the Netherlands and the USA. He is also a linguist, speaking five languages. Commenting on the team changes Karim Kurmaly, CEO, said:
‘We have seen significant and exciting growth in the company since opening our facility in Blair a year ago and it’s testament to the hard work of the existing team that we now need to further strengthen our organisation with Alexander, Yann and Herve.
‘All of them are occupying different roles within the business but they have in common a wealth of knowledge and experience in their respective fields.’ Headquartered in Delft, The Netherlands, Veramaris is a joint venture between DSM and Evonik, both world leaders in science and specialty chemicals. Established in 2017, Veramaris was formed to help realise a vision to conserve natural marine life by using the ocean’s own resource, natural marine algae, to sustainably expand the world’s access to Omega-3. Veramaris oil comes from natural marine algae, rich in both the essential Omega-3 fatty acids EPA & DHA, and ARA, a long chain Omega-6. These are vital nutrients that support optimal brain, joints, skin, heart and eye health in both animals and humans.
The zero-waste industrial scale production process runs at a stateof-the-art site in Blair, Nebraska, USA.
Veramaris enables key stakeholders in aquaculture and pet nutrition to be less dependent on wild-caught fish as a source of both EPA & DHA and helps to meet the growing demand for sustainable seafood.