New CEOs named for Nutreco and Skretting
There are new faces at the top for aquafeed business Skretting and its parent company, the Nutreco group, after Nutreco’s CEO David Blakemore announced his decision to step down.
Blakemore leaves on 1 September and his successor has been named as Bastiaan van Tilburg, CEO at Skretting. Tilburg in turn is being replaced as the boss at Skretting by Maarten Bijl, currently Chief Digital Officer at the company.
David Blakemore came out of retirement in 2022 to drive Nutreco’s performance, first as Chief Operating Officer and, from June 2024, as CEO.
Nutreco said he set the foundations for growth “through a stronger focus on customer intimacy and value-added solutions”
Blakemore has decided, the company said, that “…now is the moment for new leadership to take Nutreco onwards in its next phase of growth and innovation.”
He said: “I have enjoyed my time with Nutreco. Having the opportunity to lead this great business has been a privilege. I’ve enjoyed meeting colleagues and customers around the world and collaborating to drive our vision and purpose forward. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together.”
Bastiaan van Tilburg has been with Nutreco for almost eight years, first as general manager of Trouw Nutrition Benelux, Scandinavia and France, then as Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia. In June 2024 he took over as COO Aquaculture.
Before joining Nutreco, van Tilburg worked in various commercial and operational leadership roles at SHV daughter company, Makro in Brazil. Prior to joining Makro, he worked at Royal Dutch Shell for four years.
He studied at the University of Groningen and holds a Batchelor and Master of Arts in International Organisation and International Relations.
Van Tilburg said: “It’s a fantastic honour to lead Nutreco. We are a group of talented and purpose-driven people with a passion for our purpose of Feeding the Future. Our company has a very meaningful role to play in the food system, and I know that we still have a lot of untapped potential to unlock together. That is why it excites me to accelerate the execution of our strategy and to keep us focused on delivering the very best of Nutreco to our customers, everywhere, every day.”
Nutreco is itself part of the Netherlands-based SHV Group. SHV CEO Floris de Ryck commented: “We respect David’s decision to step down and want to thank him for all his contributions to Nutreco and wish him all the best in the future.”
The new CEO at Skretting
Maarten Bijl, van Tilburg’s successor as CEO at Skretting, has spent the last 16 years working across SHV companies in roles encompassing strategy, commercial management, and general management, and for the last year as Chief Digital Officer (CDO), a role created in June 2024.
Prior to the CDO role, Bijl spent three years as Managing Director Trouw Nutrition North America. Over the span of his career, he has led businesses in different industries, geographies and disciplines and has laid the groundwork for Nutreco’s digital transformation.
He said: “Having spent over a decade in regional general manager roles in different continents, and the last 4.5 years at Nutreco, I’ve had opportunity to get to know the Skretting team and business and I’m impressed by what I see. The relevance of aquaculture in the food chain and in our global challenge of feeding the future should not be underestimated. I’m excited and honoured to work with our team around the world to meet the needs of our customers and drive growth in our business through high quality feed, product innovation and digital solutions.”
An announcement on Maarten’s successor will follow, Nutreco said. For the interim period, Maarten will hold dual roles.
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