Interview
“We want to create even more value for our customers.”
“We can create competitive advantages for companies through stronger innovation collaborations.”
In November 2020, GELITA appointed Dr. Sven Abend to the Executive Board, and he has been CEO of the company since January 2021. In this interview, he explains what challenges and opportunities he sees, what new chapters GELITA wants to embark on and why customers will be able to benefit even more from working together with GELITA in future.
Dr. Abend, you have been at GELITA since the end of last year. What are your first impressions?
Dr. Sven Abend: I am impressed. GELITA is a great company with highly motivated employees who identify strongly with the company and have an impressive range of technical expertise and knowledge of the various application areas.
What do you find so exciting about GELITA for the company to be able to entice you to Odenwald?
Dr. Abend: Odenwald is attractive and the Neckar valley is fantastic (laughs). However, I was motivated to work for GELITA by the markets the company serves, with their strong focus on nutrition, health and pharmaceuticals. These are markets with great potential for growth, great challenges, a high level of innovation and fast innovation cycles. You have to be just as dynamic as innovative to position yourself as a supplier in the B2B sector. At the same time, collagens and collagen peptides are an interesting technology platform that has not yet been fully exploited over the last few years, despite the large growth. We are going to see a lot more exciting developments. I also believe that gelatin can open up new potential as a product. In many markets that we do not serve yet, we are seeing challenges in the areas of sustainability and the replacement of petrochemical raw materials. This is where gelatin can offer a competitive advantage. I think it’s very exciting to tap into this potential for GELITA and develop it further.
What was your first thought when GELITA knocked on your door? What image did you have from the media and the company’s external representation?
Dr. Abend: My first question was: Who is GELITA (laughs)? Hidden champions, as the name suggests, are rarely in the spotlight. Which is in fact crazy in my case as GELITA is a supplier of my previous employer. But GELITA operates in a specific market and has a specific offer. Once I googled GELITA and understood what the company does, I was hooked. There are two reasons for this.
“Our markets have great
potential for growth.”
Firstly, as already mentioned, there are the attractive markets and exciting technology platforms. Secondly, I have a PhD in colloid and interfacial chemistry, so I feel at home with hydrocolloids, collagen peptides and gelatin. So there was also an emotional connection very quickly.
How does induction as CEO work during the coronavirus pandemic?
Dr. Abend: Of course, it would have been nicer if I could visit the locations all over the world and meet the people in person. Even here at corporate headquarters, where many employees are working from home, there is a lack of personal conversation and the opportunity to exchange ideas informally at the coffee machine or to learn quickly and effectively in small spontaneous get-togethers. However, last year showed that we are adapting to the situation and this is working better than I thought. I’m amazed at how many phone or digital contacts I’ve had after just a few months, despite the restrictions, how much I’ve been able to learn and how well modern technologies help to build networks in a very short time. Every week or two, for example, I send a video to employees in a vlog. This allows me to spontaneously communicate topics that are on my mind. The feedback is very positive and motivating me to keep the vlog going after the coronavirus too.
You were previously Managing Director at Dr. W. Kolb AG and most recently COO at Lonza Group with responsibility for the Specialty Ingredients business unit. Which of your experiences from this time can you contribute particularly well to GELITA?
“A company can only be successful by working closely and effectively together with its customers.”
Dr. Abend: Apart from a short period, I have worked in a B2B ingredients business for all my industrial career. I’ve always been in related markets, mainly home and personal care, with similar business models and comparable dynamics. I have already successfully mastered many challenges, in sales, organizational and operational terms. My broad wealth of experience also helps me question the status quo from time to time and introduce new ideas, thus sparking a new dynamic.
What topics are you currently most concerned with at GELITA?
Dr. Abend: Our market orientation and customer focus. I see great potential here, because we can inform customers better about how we can generate added value with our technical expertise in the various markets. We can give companies competitive advantages through innovation collaborations that are more application focused. And in the future we can position ourselves more clearly as a solution provider instead of a pure product seller. Customers are the most important stakeholders as a company can only be successful by working closely and effectively together with its customers.
GELITA can now look back on 145 successful years. What’s next?
Dr. Abend: GELITA is a successful, stable company. For a CEO, especially one who comes from outside the company, continuing this success story means a high level of responsibility towards all stakeholders, i. e. the customers, the employees, the owners and everyone associated with GELITA. I consider it a great honor to have been given this responsibility. I will do everything I can to continue this success story over the next decade.
Naturally we want to grow. We have all the prerequisites for this: We operate in very attractive growth markets. We have an attractive product portfolio that is increasingly in demand and is growing at an above-average rate. In our innovation pipeline, there is sufficient potential to position GELITA more broadly and make it even more economically stable in the near and distant future.
How is GELITA going to expand further?
Dr. Abend: GELITA has been very successful in developing the markets for collagen peptides in recent years. In terms of technologies and innovation in this field, GELITA is definitely a leader. We invest a great deal in sound clinical studies to substantiate the functionality and efficacy of collagen peptides. GELITA continues to see itself as a pioneer in opening up new areas of application and new growth markets. However, our main raw material is animal-based, which brings certain challenges, as these volatile markets are also about sustainability and consumer behavior. We are working on producing collagen peptides in a biotechnological manner and are making sure that our expertise will enable us to survive on the market in the long term.
Which trends and new markets are particularly interesting for GELITA?
Dr. Abend: In addition to the classic markets of nutrition and pharmaceuticals, we see the possibility of using gelatin in technical applications and opening up new areas of application. We can show our first cases of success here. They are still small but fine projects with a lot of potential. They are driven by the current trend to replace certain raw materials and develop alternatives. We are convinced that we can participate in this with our technology portfolio.
Looking to the future, what are the biggest challenges for GELITA?
Dr. Abend: We do of course have various challenges to overcome. In the short term, our business is also affected by the current situation. Many distribution channels, application markets, etc. are suffering significantly from the restrictions on public life. We have the complex task of working through these difficult times together with our customers and our employees and making the right decisions. And then being well prepared for the recovery and regaining our old strength together with our customers. Other challenges include the increasing volatility in supply chains, be it the accessibility of animal raw materials or global logistics networks.
“GELITA continues to see itself as a pioneer for new areas of application and growth markets.”
We are therefore working on new global logistics concepts and supply chain optimizations so we can respond sustainably to fluctuations in the long term.
What are your plans for the next few years?
Dr. Abend: I have clearly come on board to continue to lead GELITA through a profitable phase of growth. I would be delighted if this were to manifest itself in the form of corresponding results in the medium to long-term future, i.e. if we were able to substantially improve GELITA’s sales worldwide.
How do you switch off from working life?
Dr. Abend: A CEO works 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (laughs). Seriously, I actively seek distraction, it’s what you need to clear your head. I manage to do this mainly while playing sports together with my two teenage sons and my wife. I am a passionate windsurfer, sailor and skier. And we recently acquired a Border Collie, who gets me outdoors a lot, where I can switch off and recharge my batteries.
Share on:
