The new positions affect the firm's Specialty Food Ingredients, Food Oils and Packaged Oils divisions.
ADM yesterday announced Michael Baroni has been named president of its Specialty Food Ingredients division. Baroni joined ADM in 1982 and has held management positions in the Corn Processing and Specialty Food Ingredients divisions. He most recently served as Vice President-Protein and Food Additives for Specialty Food Ingredients, said the firm.
Kevin Burgard has been named vice president of the firm's Food Oils division with responsibilities for the management of refined and packaged oils in North America. Burgard joined the company in 1986 and has held various management positions both domestically and internationally.
Donald Black was named manager of business development for ADM's Packaged Oils Division. He joined the firm in 1994 and most recently served as sales manager for the North American Packaged Oils division.
In November, ADM announced a global growth strategy designed to boost its position in agricultural processing, including expansion in its cocoa processing business.The move is an attempt to "capitalize on the exceptional opportunity ahead" , as global demand increases for both food and fuel, said ADM president and chief executive officer Patricia Woertz.
"We are implementing a strategic program that will drive both long- term growth and returns by capitalizing on our global strengths and the changing dynamics of the global energy and food markets," Woertz said.
"We see our company distinguished by five global core strengths: our origination, storage and transportation operations across the supply chain; our global agricultural processing footprint; our diversified product portfolio; our experienced management team; and our financial strength to manage for returns and growth through business cycles," she added.
The firm identified three strategic areas that it said offer the highest potential for significant, value-added growth: expansion of the geographic scope of its core model, diversification of its feedstocks and growth of its BioEnergy business. Key to the growth drive will be technology and innovation.
Earlier last month the firm revealed that earnings had more than doubled in its first quarter, with its performance boosted by improved market conditions and price increases for some of its primary products.
The agricultural processing firm reported net earnings of $403m for the quarter ended September 30 2006, a massive 116 percent increase from last year's figure of $186m. Net sales for the period stood at $9.4bn, a 10 percent increase from last year's figure of $8.6bn.