January 14/Florham Park, N.J./Prepared Foods magazine --  PureCircle appointed former Tate & Lyle sales and marketing vice president Jordi Ferre to the position of vice president and general manager, PureCircle USA.  

Jordi will be responsible for spearheading the commercial development of Reb A in the United States. His appointment follows the FDA’s issuance of a no objection letter in December, which gave high-purity Reb A Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status, allowing high-purity Reb A to be adopted as a key ingredient in mainstream food and beverage production and across entire product ranges. Food and drink manufacturers in the U.S. are already using high-purity Reb A as a sweetener ingredient.   

Jordi, who has an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, has more than 20 years experience in the global food and beverage industry.  

He joins PureCircle from Tate & Lyle where he was most recently vice president, sales & marketing for the group’s sucralose division worldwide.  

Prior to joining Tate & Lyle, Jordi held a number of senior sales and marketing positions at a range of food companies in both the U.S. and Europe and, during this time, received the prestigious “Marketer of the New Generation” award from U.S. magazine BrandWeek. 

Commenting on the Jordi’s appointment, Magomet Malsagov, chief executive officer, said, “GRAS status has opened up the U.S., the world’s largest market for high-purity Reb A, and as the world’s leading producer of this all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener, we are determined to fully exploit our leadership position. We are delighted that Jordi is joining PureCircle. The fact that we are able to attract someone of his caliber to spearhead our growth in the U.S. highlights both the size of the market opportunity and the recognition that PureCircle has already secured itself as the clear leader in our fast-growing industry. With Jordi’s arrival, we have added further to what was already one the most experienced management teams in the business. We will continue to invest in our global market leadership and expect to announce further senior appointments in due course.”

From the January 19, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition