Nagase America, New York, N.Y., hired Sharrann Simmons for a newly created position of senior business manager within Nagase’s Life Sciences division. Officials say Simmons will focus on Nagase’s growing specialty food ingredient portfolio, which is marketed to the food, dietary supplements and foodservice industries.

“Sharrann brings significant food industry experience and proven expertise to Nagase which is essential to the growth of our food ingredients activities. This new position reinforces Nagase’s commitment to grow their food ingredients business on a global scale,” says Brad Hilborn, director of business development at Nagase America Corporation.

Nagase America is part of Nagase & Co. Ltd., Tokyo, a global supplier to the chemicals, plastics, electronics, life sciences and automotive markets.

Simmons has been involved in sales and marketing management, technical management, commercial development and general management at various companies including Bunge, FMC, Nexira and the Silliker division of Merieux NutriSciences. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food science from Purdue University and has attended the Executive MBA program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Graduate Management.

Simmons also was recently elected to serve on the national board of directors of the Institute of Food Technologists for the 2014-2016 term.

Nagase has a diverse line of food ingredients including functional ingredients, enzymes, and film forming agents. Its TREHA™ trehalose ingredient is a unique, multi-functional ingredient with many value-added applications in processed foods. TREHA™ trehalose is manufactured by Hayahsibara Co., Ltd., a Nagase Group company in Japan. Nagase recently finalized an exclusive agreement with Cargill for distribution of TREHA™ trehalose in the US and Europe for food, beverage and supplement applications.