You started in the Food division at Nordmann two years ago, after working for several years in Personal Care/HI&I. What do you think now about the change?

I feel that switching to the Food Department has been a complete success, and I would like to thank my team for the warm and receptive welcome they extended to me when I came aboard as department manager – and especially for how well they worked together under COVID restrictions.  The team held strong and remained professional during the whole period, despite the massive supply bottlenecks and price changes we saw at the beginning.

Since then, I’ve been able to use my experience and the somewhat different viewpoint I came here with to initiate a few changes. And because we often see the same sort of technology in the food industry as in cosmetics, I’ve been able to leverage much of my prior knowledge in this new position. Still, there’s a lot I’m learning.

What I really like is that the work we do with customers and suppliers is very partnership-focused, internationally-minded and success-oriented.

What are you currently focusing on in your role as Business Manager Food?

We want to become more and more important to our customers as a partner. For each and every issue or concern they have, our representatives find at least one solution to propose. What’s great is that our product selection is broad, supports a wide range of applications and is ever-expanding.

My team has expanded over the past two years in terms of both sales and administrative personnel in order to meet the increasing professional demands of our customers and suppliers.

We are currently working to establish an international food and nutrition application laboratory in Hamburg. As of this summer, the new lab will be able to start identifying more synergies among the products we carry from our many international suppliers. This will allow us to offer our food and beverage customers even more added value – in person, at customer seminars, and also digitally. I’m already very excited!

What new raw materials and concepts is the Nordmann Food division currently offering?

With strong and proven partners such as Ingredion and DSM, we are continuously expanding our portfolio through both new and existing collaborations. We have several new concepts at the moment, too – such as for reducing salt and sugar, for enhancing the flavor and nutritional profiles of vegan and vegetarian foods, and for promoting sustainability (through upcycled coffee grounds, for example). We also supply plant-based proteins, products to support sports nutrition, dairy-based needs and plant-based alternatives, in addition to excipients for breweries and for producing edible oils or spice blends. The products we carry help customers effectively address the trends and challenges they encounter each and every day.

Finally, our selection of basics includes thickeners, clean-label and organic starches, pH stabilizers, milk proteins, stevia, vitamins, flavors, food colorants, plant-based flavoring agents and flavor enhancers, pre-mixes, and ready-made chocolate products round out our extensive portfolio.