Ceradis hires Jan Stechmann as Vice President of Sales & Marketing
WAGENINGEN, the NETHERLANDS, October 21th, 2019
Ceradis develops and commercializes innovative, environmentally friendly crop protection products and formulations
Ceradis B.V. is pleased to announce that Jan Stechmann will be joining the organization as Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, effective January 1, 2020.
Stechmann will be responsible for overseeing global market development and sales of the company’s crop protection portfolio, including its newly registered CeraMax biofungicide seed treatment.
Previously, Stechmann was President of HELM Agro US, where he successfully led the company to unprecedented growth during his eight-year tenure. Prior to that, Stechmann was head of global product management for herbicides for HELM AG, one of the world’s major independent chemical marketing enterprises with more than 100 subsidiaries in over 30 countries.
“I’m delighted to join Ceradis and support the organization in its plans for global expansion. I am especially excited about CeraMax – which is a great opportunity for the U.S. market. As a biofungicide with efficacy against a broad spectrum of fungal diseases and with a first target application on soy seed against Sudden Death Syndrome, CeraMax provides a green solution that competes with the best of the current commercial chemical fungicides. This is exciting for me and I look forward to also broadening the application opportunities of this new tool to other crops as well as looking at other technologies from the Ceradis portfolio that we can bring to the market.”
Jan Stechmann
“With Jan’s broad international experience and deep knowledge of the U.S. marketplace, he is a great addition to the Ceradis team. We are certain that having Jan onboard will accelerate market entry of our products and technologies to distribution partners and farmers in order to help them be more sustainably profitable.”
Willem-Jan Meulemeesters, Ceradis CEO
Stechmann resides in Cary, North Carolina and can be contacted at jan.stechmann@ceradis.com
About CeraMax:
CeraMax contains the active ingredient Natamycin. Natamycin is a biological molecule produced by soil bacteria as a defense mechanism against fungi. Natamycin is an approved food additive, that has been used for decades to preserve for example cheese. Natamycin is not only safe for human food, it is also safe for the crop and non-target organisms. This is due to its unique mode of action. It targets ergosterol, which only fungi possess. CeraMax is therefore a new tool to help farmers in the battle against resistance development.
About Ceradis:
Ceradis B.V. develops and commercializes innovative, environmentally friendly crop protection products and formulations. A spin-off from Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands), Ceradis has developed and patented (biological) formulation technologies that boost the efficacy of existing chemical Active Ingredients, resulting in a reduced rate of chemicals use per hectare of farmland and lower residues on the crop, making them more environment friendly. Ceradis also develops and patents biofungicides based on natural products, showing comparable efficacy as chemicals and excellent handling characteristics for the farmer. Ceradis aims at facilitating the transition to more environmentally friendly agriculture. Ceradis has four product development platforms and its first products are already being sold in many countries, in partnership with some of the world’s leading crop protection companies. For more information, visit us at www.ceradis.com.
Contact: Willem-Jan Meulemeesters, CEO E-mail: info@ceradis.com
