New President and CEO to Take Helm of Bühler Aeroglide

Thermal process engineering and technology firm Bühler Aeroglide announced Wednesday that Andreas Kratzer was appointed as the firm’s president and chief executive officer. The role becomes effective on April 1. 

Most recently, Kratzer served as Managing Director for the Bühler AG, Pasta and Noodles Business Unit in Uzwil, Switzerland. Kratzer succeeds Andy Sharpe, who was appointed President and CEO of North America last year. The incoming CEO has a long history with Bühler, having worked across many functions of the organization that include sales, research, business development and executive leadership. 

He joined Buhler in 2007 as Research and Development Manager of Pasta Technology, leading internal research and development projects, pilot plant trials, and technical sales support. In 2010, he was appointed Head of Business Development followed by Head of the Pasta Market, defining business strategies, collaborating with merger and acquisition projects while managing key account teams. In 2013, he served as Sales Director before becoming Managing Director of the Pasta & Noodles segment in 2014.

Kratzer joins Bühler Aeroglide during a time of industry leading advances in digital services and technology solutions, as the company works with customers to meet the Bühler goal to reduce both energy consumption and waste by 30%, in the year 2020.

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“It’s an exciting time to take over the helm of Bühler Aeroglide, a place where entrepreneurship, accountability and innovation thrive,” said Kratzer of the company’s total quality management culture, in a statement. “I look forward to helping the company continue to provide the most advanced processing equipment for the market, leveraging Bühler Insights with IoT solutions that are ready for the future. As President and CEO, I will strive to bolster Bühler Aeroglide’s world class exertise, the gold standard in thermal processing solutions, to help our customers be profitable and continue to grow across all industries.”

Kratzer studied food science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) where he received a doctorate of philosophy. Kratzer is a regular contributor to food technology education at ETH, providing lectures that explain the microstructure of pasta and design processing.

Bühler Aeroglide manufactures dryers, ovens, roasters, toasters, and hot air expansion systems for the food, feed and industrial product markets.