Board of Directors
Andreas Umbach
Chair
Andreas Umbach is a Swiss and German citizen and has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors since the Initial Public Offering in 2018. Mr Umbach has further served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Landis+Gyr Group AG (SIX:LAND) since July 2017, as Chair of the Supervisory Board of Techem Energy Services GmbH since August 2018 and as Chair of the Board of Directors of Schurter Group AG since December 2023.
Mr Umbach previously served as Chair of Rovensa SA from September 2020 to September 2023 and as a Member of the Board of Directors of Ascom Holding AG (SIX:ASCN) (2010–2020), from 2017–2019 as its Chair. He also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of WWZ AG (2013–2020) and as a Member of the Board of Directors of LichtBlick SE (2012–2016). From 2002 to 2017, Mr Umbach was the President and CEO/COO of Landis+Gyr AG. Prior to serving as CEO, Mr Umbach served as President of the Siemens Metering Division within the Power Transmission and Distribution Group and held other positions within Siemens. Mr Umbach holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering (Diplom-Ingenieur) from the Technical University of Berlin.
Werner Bauer
Werner Bauer is a Swiss and German citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since the IPO. From 2015 until the IPO, he served as an advisory board member for the Company. Mr Bauer is also currently vice chairman of the board of directors of Givaudan SA (since 2014) and Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA (since 2012), chairman of the board of trustees at the Bertelsmann Foundation (since 2011), and a member of the board of directors of Lonza Group AG (since 2013). From 2011 until 2018 he also served as a member of the board of directors of GEA Group AG.
Prior to that he held a number of other board positions, including chairman of the board of directors of Nestlé Deutschland AG (from 2005 to 2017) and chairman of the board of directors of Galderma Pharma SA (from 2011 to 2014). Most recently, Mr Bauer was the executive vice president and head of innovation, technology, research & development for Nestlé SA from 2007 to 2013, and prior to that he served as executive vice president and head of technical, production, environment, research & development for Nestlé SA and held other positions within Nestlé. Furthermore, Mr Bauer served as chairman of the board of directors of Sofinol S.A. (from 2006 to 2012), and as a member of the board of directors of L’Oréal (from 2005 to 2012). Mr Bauer started his career in 1980 as a professor of chemical engineering at Hamburg University of Technology, after which he was a professor in food bioprocessing and director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Food Technology & Packaging at the Technical University of Munich. Mr Bauer holds a degree and PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Wah-Hui Chu
Wah-Hui Chu is a Chinese citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since the IPO. From 2015 until the IPO, he served as an advisory board member for the Company. Mr Chu is currently also the founder and has been chairman of iBridge TT International Limited (Hong Kong) since 2018, a member of the board of directors of Mettler Toledo International since 2007 and was the founder of M&W Consultants Limited (Hong Kong) in 2007. From 2013 to 2014 when he retired, Mr Chu served as the CEO and a member of the board of directors of Tingyi Asahi Beverages Holding, and from 2008 to 2011 he acted as executive director and CEO of Next Media Limited.
He also served as a member of the board of directors of Li Ning Company Limited from 2007 to 2012 and as chairman of PepsiCo Investment (China) Limited from 1998 to 2007, and again from 2012 to 2013. Mr Chu spent many years as an executive at PepsiCo, serving as non-executive chairman of PepsiCo International’s Asia region in 2008 and president of PepsiCo International – China beverages business unit between 1998 and 2007. Before joining PepsiCo, Mr Chu held management positions at Monsanto Company, Whirlpool Corporation, H.J. Heinz Company and the Quaker Oats Company. Mr Chu holds a BSc in agronomy from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Roosevelt University.
Thomas Dittrich
Thomas Dittrich is a Swiss and German citizen who currently holds the position Chief Financial Officer of Galderma Group AG. He is also a member of the Board of IFZ (Förderverein des Instituts für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug) at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts since 2022. Prior to his current roles, Mr Dittrich served as Chief Financial Officer and an executive member of the Board of Directors at Shire plc.
He joined Shire in 2018 from Sulzer AG, where he served as Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Executive Committee, and Chief Executive Officer ad interim between August and December 2015. Prior to joining Sulzer, Thomas worked for eight years at Amgen Inc. as Vice President, Finance Corporate Planning and Chief Accounting Officer, and previously as Chief Financial Officer of Amgen International. Before that, he held various finance and general manager positions during eight years at Dell, Inc. Prior to that, he worked in M&A and management consulting roles. Thomas Dittrich holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Robotics from Munich Technical University and a Master’s in Finance, Controlling and Accounting from the University of St. Gallen.
Mariel Hoch
Mariel Hoch is a Swiss and German citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since the IPO. Ms Hoch has been a partner at the Swiss law firm Bär & Karrer since 2012. She is currently also a serving board member at Comet Holding AG (since 2016), where she also chairs the nomination and compensation committee, at Komax Holding AG (since 2019), where she also sits on the audit committee, and at MEXAB AG (since 2014). Ms Hoch served as a member of the board of directors of Adunic AG from 2015 to 2018.
She has been a member of the foundation board of The Schörling Foundation since 2013 and a member of the foundation board of the Irene M. Staehelin Foundation since 2020. Ms Hoch has also been co-chair of the Zurich Committee of Human Rights Watch since 2017. Ms Hoch was admitted to the Zurich bar in 2005 and holds a law degree and a PhD from the University of Zurich.
Florence Jeantet
Florence Jeantet is a French citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since April 2023. She is serving as member of the “Conseiller au Conseil Economique de la France” (Advisor to the Economic Council) since 2010. Ms Jeantet has been with Danone for 19 years until September 2023 with her last role being Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer.
She previously held various leadership positions at Danone incl. SVP-OP2B General Manager; SVP- Danone 2025 & Health Mission; Chief Growth Officer, Danone Worldwide Business Unit Early Life Nutrition; Vice President Medical, Quality and R&D, Danone Early life Nutrition; Vice President, Research & Development, Danone Baby Nutrition; Vice President, Research and Development, Danone Waters Division. From 1991-2004, Ms Jeantet held various leadership positions at Unilever in France, Netherlands as well as Russia. Ms Jeantet holds a Master’s in Food Science and Technology Engineering from Polytech Montpellier, France.
Laurens Last
Laurens Last is a Dutch citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since April 2022. Mr Last is currently also Director of CLIL Holding BV, TSAL Holding NV and Cycle Investments BV. He was founder and CEO of International Packaging Network (IPN) and afterwards Chairman and member of the Board of Scholle IPN. Before pursuing his entrepreneurial ventures, Mr Last studied at HEAO Business School in the Netherlands.
Abdallah al Obeikan
Abdallah al Obeikan is a Saudi Arabian citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since April 2021. Mr al Obeikan is also currently a member of the Board of Directors of Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Company, listed on Tadawul Stock Exchange, KSA. He furthers serves as member of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Obeikan Investment Group (OIG) - a major player in packaging, digital solutions and education industries – where he also holds Board and Management positions in several OIG subsidiaries.
In addition, Mr al Obeikan is Chairman of Obeikan AGC Glass Company, Chairman of Riyadh Polytechnic Institute, a Member of the Board of Directors of National Water Company, a Member of the Board of Directors of Social Development Bank and a Member of the Advisory Board of KSA agencies. Abdallah al Obeikan joined the Obeikan family business in 1987 and was CEO of SIG Combibloc Obeikan joint venture companies (2000-2021). Mr al Obeikan holds a BSC in Electrical Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, K.S.A.
Martine Snels
Martine Snels is a Belgian citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since April 2021. Ms Snels is also currently a member of the supervisory board of Prodrive Technologies (since 2023) and a member of the board of directors of Electrolux Professional AB (since 2019). In addition, Martine Snels is the founder and CEO of L'Advance BV (since 2020) and a member of the supervisory board of URUS Group LLC (until 2023). She previously served as a member of the supervisory board of VION Food Group NV (from 2020 to 2022) and as a member of the board of directors of Resilux NV (from 2019 to 2022).
Prior to that she was a member of the executive board of GEA Group AG (from 2017 to 2020) and held various leadership roles at Royal Friesland Campina NV (from 2012 to 2017) including member of the Executive Board – C.O.O. Ingredients (2015–2017), Nutreco NV (from 2003 to 2012) and Kemin Industries (from 1996 to 2003). Ms Snels holds a MSc in Agricultural Engineering from K.U. Leuven, Belgium.
Matthias Währen
Chairman of the audit and risk committee
Matthias Währen is a Swiss citizen and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since the IPO. Mr Währen has further served as a member of the board of directors of Keto Swiss AG since July 2020, of Bloom Biorenewables SA since September 2020 and as a member of the board of directors of ph. AG since December 2020, as well as being a member of the board of trustees of the Givaudan Foundation (since 2013) and the HBM Fondation (since 2018).
Mr Währen was previously a member of the regulatory board of SIX Swiss Exchange from 2006 to 2017, a member of the board of scienceindustries from 2009 to 2017, a member of the board of Swiss Holdings from 2015 to 2017 and a member of the board of directors of various Givaudan subsidiaries from 2005 to 2019. Most recently, he served as CFO and a member of the executive committee of Givaudan SA from 2005 until his retirement in 2017. Prior to that, he served as the global head of finance and informatics of the Roche vitamin division and held a variety of other positions at Roche, including vice president finance and informatics at Roche USA, Nutley, New Jersey, head of finance and information technology at Nippon Roche, Tokyo and finance director of Roche Korea. Mr Währen started his career in corporate auditing at Roche in 1983. Mr Währen holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Basel, Switzerland.