‘I’m Sandor Noordermeer and I’m Vice President Global Marketing & Sales at Rousselot. I’ve been with the company for quite a few years and in the gelatin application industry for even longer, starting out in the late ‘90s, mainly in soft gels and nutraceuticals. Within Rousselot, I’ve seen a lot of change. Up to 3-4 years ago, gelatin was our main business, with what is now the Functional Ingredients company segment in the lead. Collagen, in those days, accounted for only a few percent of our production and revenue. Today, we’re ‘the collagen company’. The share of collagen in everything we do is growing all the time; just think of the massive growth of Peptan, the collagen peptides brand that resides with our Health & Nutrition segment. All three of our segments, though – Functional Ingredients, Health & Nutrition and Biomedical – are seeing exciting developments. Biomedical is on the cutting edge of science and medical technology, for example, enabling scientists to develop tissue engineering. Functional Ingredients continues to deliver new innovations to the industry that contribute in areas such as health and sustainability, product differentiation, and efficiency. And Health & Nutrition is bringing us much closer to consumers, although we remain a B2B company: we empower our co-branding partners with products, innovations, science, and whatever else they need and rely on them to engage consumers.’
An entrepreneurial spirit
‘I really enjoy working for Rousselot. One reason is that it combines solidity – for instance, on the science side – with speed and agility. The current growth of Peptan and Health & Nutrition is a point in case. When we asked our board in the summer of 2018 for permission to develop two new collagen factories in order to meet growing global demand, we were given a green light for three factories in just a few months. Fast forward three years and all three of those new factories are operational, with Rousselot doubling its collagen production capacity in just a few years. The speed at which we grew our collagen capacity – while also developing business through key (co-branding) partnerships – illustrates this company’s entrepreneurial spirit. Add our other two values into the mix, integrity, and transparency, and you have the main reason why I believe in what we’re doing and why I enjoy my job.’
Sports, collagen, and endorphins
The health benefits of collagen are another aspect of Rousselot that Sandor appreciates, he says. ‘I’ve loved sport all my life, especially cycling; I started when I was just 8 years old. I do a lot of road biking, and enjoy mountain biking too, and I cycle around 200km a week. I run once a week too, as well as going to the gym a few times, and exercising with my son for fun. For me, sport is me-time. It’s all about emptying the mind and getting that rush of endorphins that takes my mind off my work and responsibilities.
Since I started taking collagen every day, I’ve noticed a big difference: at 50, I can run faster than I’ve run before – I’m hoping to do my next marathon in under three hours – I never get injured, and I can lift more weight than my 18-year-old son (don’t tell him I said this). I really do believe in the impact of collagen. For me, a healthy lifestyle is as simple as doing your sports, taking collagen, and eating well. Healthy body, healthy mind. I genuinely believe that. And my experience, as well as the experiences of many other people, proves it.’