It’s time for the reins at natural food ingredient firm EDME, to be handed over.
After six years at the helm, Mark Hodson is retiring. He entrusts the leadership of the wholegrain ingredient makers to Andrew Shentall, a colleague from sister company, Micronized Food Products.
Mark says, “I am happy to say, EDME will be in safe hands with Andrew. Our team members and customers can be reassured that their interests will be safeguarded. Andrew has done a first class job at MFP, essentially turning the company around.
“There’s great respect for his broad skill set including operational know-how, people skills, and ability to respond to the markets and changing customer needs.”
Mark knows a lot about that need to react quickly and effectively. He joined EDME just months before Covid hit. The pandemic hugely impacted the food industry across the supply chain. Changes to procedures that would normally take months, if not years, had to be enacted instantly. Everything shifted.
Mark says: “In difficult personal and professional circumstances, the team here at EDME did astonishingly well, responding positively and quickly to the evolving demands being made on them. They always went the extra mile, doing everything possible to support customers with their fast-changing needs.
“All that made it clear just how much potential the company has – which helped guide my subsequent repositioning of the business.
“There’s now a far greater market focus; a scientific and application-based approach; increased support to customers with product innovation; and generally more potential for growth. Our people and our customers are always at the heart of everything we strive to do.”
Mark says, “One of our company values is ‘Pass it on better’. This refers not just to the raw grain we receive and the nutritious ingredients we make with them, but to everything across all departments. With the shape EDME is now in, I like to think that when it comes to ‘Pass it on better’, I’m doing just that.”
When in 2020 Mark appointed Andrew as General Manager of Micronized Food Products (MFP), Andrew already had 20 years of experience in grain handling and ingredient manufacturing. Most recently, this was with MFP as operations manager.
Here he has led the business away from grain commodities to more premium cereals and brewing adjunct categories.
“We have a skilled workforce and decent plant, so it made sense to concentrate on harder-to-manufacture, value-added products,” he says. “We’re now supplying renowned international brewers and distillers. That’s as well as wholesalers of animal feeds – with different products, obviously!
“Hats off to the team for taking the business to the next level. They should be proud of their achievements – including producing ingredients for one of the country’s best selling lagers.”
Andrew says he is really looking forward to joining the EDME team and to meeting the company’s customers.
“It’s a bigger role for me, but the principles remain the same. Stay curious. Treat everyone with respect. Bring out the best in everyone and everything. Strive for continual improvement in operations. Understand the market. Add value for customers.
“I’ll also aim to ‘Pass it on better’.”