Ingredient solutions firm Ingredion Incorporated has named Jeremy Xu to replace Tony DeLio as its chief innovation officer this October, the company announced in a recent release. DeLio will retire next February after a 14-year tenure at Ingredion. 

Xu most recently worked for Royal DSM, where he led a global business unit in the nutritional ingredients space for four years. Prior to his time at the Dutch company, he occupied a variety of leadership roles in the US and Asia at DuPont. The incoming CIO was also named a senior vice president. 

“Jeremy is an accomplished leader with a strong reputation for successfully driving innovation and growth while cultivating high-performing, agile teams,” Ingredion President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Zallie said in a statement. “Jeremy brings a global perspective and deep specialty food ingredient experience, which is critical as we identify new opportunities for our customers. We look forward to having an executive of his caliber join the Ingredion team.”

In the new CIO role, Xu will find growth opportunities and run the firm’s Ingredion Idea Labs innovation centers. He will report to Zallie. 

Zu earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and biomedical engineering from Zhejiang University in China and a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology and an MBA from Purdue University. In addition, he holds a master’s degree in plant physiology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.