The challenges the feed and food industry are facing are becoming ever more complex. With a continuously expanding world population, we are looking forward with great anticipation and fascination to what the feed industry will look like in 2020, and also in 2050, when population figures are expected to exceed 9 billion.
So how will the technology evolve? What impact will this have on our software and service provision? And above all, how can we take input from the industry and use it to make workable platforms for our customers? This sphere of action will be the responsibility of our 3 Product Managers, whom we are pleased to present to you.
What is a product manager?
A Product Manager plays both a strategic and a tactical role. You can consider him or her to be the CEO of a product, and as such he or she must be able to solve any problem that arises at any level. Specifically, this means that he or she has a good feel for his or her industry, thoroughly looks into the needs and wishes of that industry, monitors legislative and regulatory developments, listens to managers as well as end-users and provides input to the development team. He or she acts, as it were, as a link between the industry and users, on the one hand, and the platform owner, sales & marketing, consultants and development team on the other.
Who is who?
Adifo is active in the feed and food industry and in this context distinguishes six spheres of action: Feed, Food, Pet Food, Farm Advice, Premix and Aqua. After a thorough selection process, we are proud to present our team of Product Managers who will work in these spheres of action:
Lynn Verstrepen
Lynn Verstrepen will work as BESTMIX Product Manager for Feed, Pet Food and Aqua. Lynn has been working at Adifo since 2011 and so far has been known to our customers as a feed formulation consultant. Over the past few years she has become a specialist in the pet food industry.
Lynn says: “I look forward to further deepening my understanding of the needs and wishes of our niche market and engaging with all stakeholders. In this way, we at Adifo will be able to offer even more added value going forward. You will find me at the international trade fairs and events and will see that I’m always open to a productive conversation.”
Lynn has a bioengineering degree in environmental technology. Together with her partner, Pascal, during her free time she combines cooking delicious meals with carrying out renovations to her house. She is also a big fan of volleyball and of her cat, Osito.
Peter De Letter
Peter will work as BESTMIX Product Manager for Premix/Specialty feeds and Customer Service/Ration. He has been working as a BESTMIX consultant for 7 years and during the past few years has been on the BESTMIX Product Board as a Ration specialist and expert on the North American market.
Peter says: “Our Feed industry faces enormous challenges in the future. It is exciting to take innovations, use them in our products and then apply them in practice so as to increase efficiency in the chain as well as provide additional support to farmers and producers.”
Peter has a bioengineering degree in environmental technology. He is married to Robyn and a proud father of two. He enjoys music, plays guitar in a band and likes to spend time with his family and his dogs and cats.
Kathleen De Badrihaye
Kathleen will work as BESTMIX Product Manager for Food. Kathleen has worked for 9 years as a consultant for BESTMIX Food and BESTMIX LIMS.
Kathleen says: “For many years now, I have been enthusiastic about our product and how it is evolving. Increasingly stringent labelling legislation, providing good quality at the right price, new trends in food, and so on: these are all things that make the job interesting. I consider it a fascinating challenge to keep my finger on the pulse and to turn customer expectations into workable software that is also future-proof.”
Kathleen has a professional bachelor’s degree in biotechnology. In her free time she provides administrative support for the furniture paint shop operated by her partner, Bjorn. They are passionate about South Africa and travel there several times a year. There, Kathleen can exercise her hobby of wildlife photography to her heart’s content.
