Executive Team
The Grobest management team’s professional and industry-focused experience drives the company forward. Comprised of experts from the world of biotechnology, animal nutrition, aquaculture and other associated technologies, this combined expertise of the team reflects Grobest’s global reach and the company’s success.
Grobest’s corporate executives proven track record of management excellence, as well as respective industry expertise—combined with the strong, advisory support of our Board of Directors—is a major factor in the company’s leadership and ever increasing worldwide success.
Hua Du
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Du joins Grobest after 11 years of service at Solvay, a leading global chemicals and materials company, where he held the position of President of Global Business Units, and Member of Executive Committee, leading several global business units with revenues of EUR 5 Billion, more than 10,000 employees, and technologies covering a wide range of end markets. Prior to Solvay, he worked at Rohm and Haas Company for 13 years, driving growth in Asia for its Electronic Materials group.
Mr. Du graduated from Peking University in China and holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), organic chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign U.S.A.
Richard Shin
Chief Financial Officer / Chief Human Resource Officer
Richard C. W. Shin has joined Grobest as Chief Financial Officer in June 2020.
Mr. Shin has 28 years of professional experience in financial and business leadership roles, having lived internationally in six cities across five countries, building businesses and teams with a hands-on approach including: strategic planning, business and brand development; M&A and post-integration; business advisory; auditing; forensic accounting; and business valuation advisory. He has worked in the FMCG and retail sectors in the past 22 years, with extensive experience in publicly listed as well as private companies.
Mr. Shin has graduated from the McGill University of Montreal, Canada with a Master of Accountancy degree. He is also a Qualified Canadian Chartered Accountant.
Edward Gao
Chief Operating Officer
Edward Gao served as Chief Operating Officer at Grobest since November 2018. Mr. Gao has over 26 years of hands-on experience and successful leadership in managing operations and supply chain. He has overseen the construction of five large factories on greenfield and closure of five old plants for four Fortune-500 international corporations over the past 26 years. Between 2010 and 2018, Mr. Gao was Director of Operations and Supply Chain of Henkel in Greater China. Prior to that, he held operational management positions at Cargill, Wrigley, and 3M.
Mr. Gao graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with a Master of Industrial Engineering and Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Gao is married with one daughter. In his spare time, he loves hiking and traveling.
KRISTIN VERIGA
Chief Marketing Officer
Kristin Veriga has joined Grobest as Chief Marketing Officer in September 2020. In his 26-year career in marketing and sales, he has taken leading roles for FMCG giants such as Mars, Reckitt Benckiser, and Arnotts. Prior to joining Grobest, he had worked for Regal Springs, a producer of antibiotic-free and sustainable tilapia. He has worked across five continents, managing operations spanning as many as 95 countries around the world.
He is a purpose-driven and growth-minded marketer focused on creating customer value. In Grobest, he will be responsible for making the operations even more farmer-centered by promoting their success, which in turn should bring about the company’s success.
Mr. Veriga holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Marketing) from University of Western Sydney.
Jennifer Kuo
Chief Technology Development & Sustainability Officer
Jennifer Kuo serves as Chief Technology Development & Sustainability Officer of Grobest Group. She joined Grobest in 1992, where she held various positions, including: General Manager of Animal Health Business Group, General Manager of Animal Health Research Institute, General Manager of Fuzhou Omnipro Industrial Co. Ltd, Vice President of Business Development & Planning, Vice President of Administrative Management, Director of Project Management, Special Assistant of Group Executive Director to assist business management, Supervisor of Aquaculture Research Center, and Supervisor of Quality Assurance Department. She was also appointed project manager to key projects and the leader of Ingredient Development team.
Ms. Kuo holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degrees from the Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan Ocean University and has a broad experience in the aquaculture industry. She has also earned a professional certificate in Corporate Sustainability Management.
Ko, Chi-Kang
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Mr. Ko has devoted his entire life to the study of oceans and development of related industries. He has spared no effort in development of aquaculture and technologies used in aquatic products processing, and with all his passion participated in government projects engaging the elites of the industrial and academic worlds. Applying modern know-how and technology, he invented “green feed” that attains perfect equilibrium between industrial mass production and ecological harmony. Having greatly influenced the competitiveness of Taiwanese fishery and aquaculture industries, in 2011 Mr. Ko received distinction as “Pride of Fisheries” from the Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture, Taiwan, while in 2014, he won the Ocean Awards by National Taiwan Ocean University. Grobest Group, co-founded by Mr. Ko, has built up worldwide reputation and earned him multiple awards as well. He has served as the ever-bright beacon in the global aquaculture industry for more than four decades.
Ola Nordquist
Vice Chairman
Ola Nordquist serves as Vice Chairman of the board of directors.
Ola is also Partner and Head of Permira’s Nordic office. He has worked on a number of transactions including Grobest, Klarna, Pharmaq and TDC.
Ola has received a master’s degree in economics from the Gothenburg School of Economics and Commercial Law, Sweden, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Prior to joining Permira, he worked in London at Apax Partners on a number of buy-outs specifically covering the Nordic region, and in M&A at Lehman Brothers. Previously, he was a manager in the Strategy Division at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Washington, D.C.
Jim Tsao
Member of the Board
Jim Tsao is Chairman and Head of China at Permira based in their Shanghai office. He has worked on a number of transactions including Grobest.
Prior to joining Permira, Jim served as Partner in charge of China for Unitas Capital (formerly known as JP Morgan Partners Asia) for more than ten years.
Before that, Jim had a distinguished career in the food and beverage industry. He was the CEO of the Hong Kong-listed Lam Soon Group and Managing Director for Asia at Lion Nathan, the leading brewer conglomerate in Australia and New Zealand.
He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, USA and is an economics graduate of the National Taiwan University.
Kjell Bjordal
Member of the Board
Kjell Bjordal is a professional serving in boards of directors for various companies, mainly as chairman.
He has previously held the positions of: CEO of EWOS Group in years 1998–2014, CEO of Glamox Group in years 1989–1998, and CFO of Glamox Group in years 1985–1989.
Kjell holds an MBA degree, which he received at Norwegian School of Business and completed an Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School.
Alex Emery
Member of the Board
Alex has headed Asia Pacific for Permira since 2011 and is based in Hong Kong. He holds the position of Partner and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He first joined the firm in London in 2002 and moved to Tokyo to initialize Permira’s Asian presence in 2005. Alex has worked on numerous transactions including Arysta, Galaxy, Grobest, I-MED, JMO, New Look, Sushiro, and Tricor.
Prior to joining Permira, Alex spent five years at McKinsey & Company in London. He was previously at Braxton Associates and began his career at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A French national, Alex has lived in Asia for over 30 years and is a fluent Japanese speaker.
Alex majored in Political Science and East Asia Studies at Yale University and holds a master’s degree in European Politics from the College of Europe, Belgium. He also earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Chen, Bao-Ji
Member of the Board
Mr. Chen has dedicated his life to the study of animal science. In 1977, he completed a MSc degree in animal nutrition from the Department of Animal Husbandry at NTU, Taiwan. In 1989 he earned a PhD in animal science at Cornell University, USA, majoring in poultry nutrition. He holds a title of Professor Emeritus at the Department of Animal Science and Technology at NTU, with which he has been associated throughout his academic career.
His knowledge and devotion to research brought him numerous awards. In 1983, he was given Special Contribution Award by Taiwan Provincial Government; in 1991, the Council of Agriculture presented him with Outstanding Achievement Award; and in 2006, he received Academic Award from China Animal Science Association.
Mr. Chen’s rich career has spanned beyond academia. In years 1997-2000, he occupied the role of director at Animal Industry Department, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan. He also served as senior vice president of Asian-Pacific Poultry Federation in 2007-2011 and president of Agricultural Association of Taiwan in 2009-2011.
Chen, Wei-Huang
Member of the Board
Mr. Chen obtained an MBA diploma from National Sun Yat-Sen University. He currently holds the post of member of the board and member of the audit committee at Grobest Group.
Mr. Chen previously held an office in National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance, as director’s secretary. He also worked as adviser to Yuan’s General Hospital corporation aggregate. Besides his current role in Grobest Group, he is also a sole board member of JMC Electronics and a part-time lecturer at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology.
