The Board of Directors of Chr. Hansen Holding has appointed Mauricio Graber as new CEO, effective June 1.
Mauricio Graber, 54, has been president of the flavors division of Givaudan S.A. and a member of Givaudan’s executive committee since 2006.
Graber holds a BSc in electronic engineering from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico, and a Masters in Management from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, U.S. His professional career started in 1989 with The Nutrasweet Co. in the U.S. as business development manager. After two years in the role, he returned to Mexico in 1991 to become regional head of North Latin America.
In 1995, he joined the U.S.-based flavor company Tastemaker as regional president of Latin America. In 1997, Tastemaker was acquired by the industry leader Givaudan, and subsequently Graber was appointed regional president of Latin America of the combined regional business. From his new base in Brazil, he continued in that role until 2006, when he was appointed president of the flavors division, based in Switzerland.
Over the past 10 years, Graber has led Givaudan Flavours to strengthen its global industry leadership position. He has built a customer-centric culture, accelerated commercialization of innovation, invested in developing markets, driven productivity programs, and delivered organic growth and successful integration of strategic acquisitions. In addition, he has developed internal talents and built a strong organization.
Ole Andersen, chairman of the board of directors, said: “I am delighted to announce Mauricio Graber as new CEO of Chr. Hansen as of 1 June 2018. With over 20 years of experience in the global ingredients industry, he is a truly international executive. Mauricio brings a strong track record and extensive global leadership experience from his current position. I am excited that Mauricio will take over as new CEO of Chr. Hansen and am convinced he is well suited to contribute to the continued strong performance and growth in Chr. Hansen.”
“I have followed Chr. Hansen for many years and am very impressed with its unique position and the strong results continuously being delivered. I am very excited to relocate to Copenhagen and join the company. I really look forward to meeting and beginning to work with the company’s leadership team and its many committed employees,” Graber said.
Chr. Hansen’s current CEO, Cees the Jong, will continue as acting CEO until Graber takes up his new position on June 1.
