Hoofddorp, March 13, 2025. – Barentz, a leading global specialty ingredients solutions provider, is pleased to announce the appointment of Christian Barker as Chief Commercial Officer, Global Head of Human Nutrition and Executive Board Member. Christian succeeds Gökhan Oran, who stepped down for personal reasons.
Christian brings extensive global leadership experience in industrial biotechnology, consumer health, specialty ingredients and agricultural industries. He joins Barentz following over a decade as Executive Vice President of Health & Nutrition at a leading global biosolutions company, where he scaled the business fivefold, driving growth through innovation, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. Prior to that, he served as Corporate Vice President of Strategic Development, shaping the company’s transformation into a global bioscience leader.
Earlier in his career, Christian spent 15 years at a leading management consultancy, including eight years as a Partner based in New York, advising top management and boards across the consumer, food, life sciences, and private equity sectors.
Commenting on the transition, Derk Jan Terhorst, CEO of Barentz, said: “We are delighted to welcome Christian to Barentz. His strategic expertise and deep industry knowledge make him an excellent addition to our leadership team. His proven track record in driving sustainable growth and innovation will be instrumental in advancing our Human Nutrition division and reinforcing our market position. It will also advance the next phase of our commercial organisation.
At the same time, I would like to thank Gökhan for his leadership over the past five years. His guidance expanded the Human Nutrition division and laid a strong foundation for the future. As a Board member, he helped secure investments to drive growth and reposition Barentz in the market. We wish him all the best in his next chapter.”
Christian holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
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ABOUT BARENTZ
Barentz is a leading global specialty ingredients solution provider. The Company sources branded specialty ingredients from leading manufacturers worldwide and its ingredient experts provide value-added technical support which includes pre-mixing, blending, ingredient formulation and ingredient testing from its state-of-the-art, customized formulation centres and application laboratories in EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific.
Established in 1953, Barentz has operations in more than 70 countries with a strong presence in Europe and North America, and a rapidly growing network in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. With a turnover of circa €2.4 billion, Barentz employs around 2,700 people worldwide and serves over 27,000 customers. For more information, visit: www.barentz.com.
For more information, please contact:
pressoffice@barentz.com
