Executive Group

Guy-Laurent Arpino

Chief Information Officer

Guy-Laurent is Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Louis Dreyfus Company. He joined the Group in 2016 from Bacardi-Martini Ltd., where he was CIO for Europe since 2011, with additional responsibility for global business intelligence and digital marketing services. Prior to this, he worked for Procter & Gamble since 1997, first in Belgium and then in Switzerland, most recently as Global IT & Shared Services Associate Director for the Braun Division. A French national, Guy-Laurent holds an Engineering degree specializing in electronics, computer science and signal processing, from École Supérieure Chimie Physique Électronique (CPE) de Lyon, in France.

Keir Ashton

Group General Counsel

Keir Ashton is Group General Counsel for Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). A British national, he joined the Group in 2008, serving as Chief Legal Officer for what was then our Europe & Black Sea Region until 2014, when he took up an enlarged scope covering Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to LDC, Keir was Senior Counsel at Bloomberg L.P. in New York City, General Counsel at The Wireless Group in London, and previously in private practice with Clifford Chance and Olswang in London. A UK qualified solicitor, he holds a law degree from the London School of Economics.

Enrico Biancheri

Head, Sugar Platform

Enrico is Head of the Sugar Platform for Louis Dreyfus Company. A Brazilian and Italian national, he joined the Group in 2003 as a Trainee Trader. Appointed Commercial Manager for Biosev (then LDC-SEV) in 2009, he later served as Commercial & Cane Origination Director, responsible for managing all marketing and logistics activities related to the output of sugar, ethanol and electricity. Enrico returned to LDC in 2017 as Head of Cash Trading for the Sugar Platform, took up the position of Head Trader for the Platform the same year, and served in that capacity until his appointment to his present role in 2019. He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics, and a Master's degree in Finance.

Tim Bourgois

Global Trading Manager, Cotton Platform

Tim Bourgois is Global Trading Manager for the Cotton Platform for Louis Dreyfus Company. A Belgian national, he joined the Group in January 1999, and has since held various leadership positions within trading in the Cotton Platform. Prior to joining our business, he worked as a Director for VKW, based in Leuven, Belgium. Tim holds a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Brussels.

Miguel Catella

Head, Global Markets

Miguel Catella, Head of Global Markets at Louis Dreyfus Company, has substantial practical experience in the emerging markets asset class. An Argentine national, he joined the Group in January 1999. Prior to this, he was a fixed income and equity Latam trader at Cargill in Minneapolis. Before that he worked at Citibank in Buenos Aires, trading fixed income assets. Miguel Catella holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Buenos Aires.

Ben Clarkson

Head, Coffee Platform

Ben Clarkson is Head of the Coffee Platform at Louis Dreyfus Company. A British national, he joined LDC in 2012 as Senior Trader for the Coffee Platform, subsequently taking on additional responsibility as Head of Futures & Options Trading for the Platform. In 2018, he was appointed Global Trading Manager for Coffee, serving in that capacity until his appointment to his present role. Prior to joining the Group, he worked for 3 years in investment management at Smith & Williamson, and later as Senior Coffee Trader for Armajaro Holdings Limited during 7 years. Ben is a graduate of the University of Bristol, UK.

Thomas Couteaudier

Head, South & Southeast Asia Region

Thomas Couteaudier is Head of the South & Southeast Asia Region for Louis Dreyfus Company. A French national, he joined the Group in 2010 from the World Bank. Serving initially as Business Development Manager for the Middle East and Africa, based in Geneva, he was later appointed Country Manager for South Africa, and most recently served as Head of the East, West and Southern Africa clusters within our Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. He holds a Master’s degree in Agriculture Economics, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Kristen Eshak Weldon

Head of Food Innovation & Downstream Strategy

Kristen Eshak Weldon is Head of Food Innovation & Downstream Strategy at Louis Dreyfus Company. An American and British national, Kristen joined the Group in 2019 after 13 years at Blackstone, where she held several positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Senior Managing Director (Partner) and Co-Head of the London office, with oversight of the London investment team and supervising legal, compliance, investor relations and business development activities. Prior to Blackstone, she worked in commodity derivatives at JPMorgan in London and New York. Kristen also served as Founding Board Member of 100 Women in Finance Ltd. between 2007 and 2017. In addition to pursuing a Sloan Fellowship Master’s degree in Leadership and Strategy at London Business School, she holds a degree in Finance & International Business from Georgetown University (US), UK and US securities regulatory FCA qualifications, and received several awards over the years recognizing leading women in finance.

Jean-Marc Foucher

Executive Chairman of the Board of Ilomar Holding

Jean-Marc Foucher is Executive Chairman of the Board of Ilomar Holding, Louis Dreyfus Company’s Belgium-based subsidiary providing supply chain management and logistics solutions worldwide. A French national, Jean-Marc has over 30 years of experience in agricultural commodity trading and marketing, and has held several trading and management positions within the Group, including various regional leadership positions covering EMEA and the Black Sea between 2007 and 2014, and then as Global Head of the dairy business until 2019. He is a graduate of NEOMA Reims Management School.

Michael Gelchie

Chief Operating Officer

Mike Gelchie is Chief Operating Officer at Louis Dreyfus Company. A US national, he began his career in the Group in 1990 as an Internal Auditor. He later joined our Sugar division as Platform Controller and moved into trading in 1994, serving in various roles of increasing managerial responsibility for our Sugar, Rice and Cocoa businesses. Mike subsequently assisted in the start-up of Louis Dreyfus Investment Group in 2008, where he was Senior Portfolio Manager. He left the Group in 2010 to work as Head of Agricultural Trading at Sierentz LLC and then Head of Systematic Trading at Sucden Americas Corporation. He returned to LDC in July 2019 as Head of the Coffee Platform, taking on his new role as COO in November of the same year. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Lubin Business School at Pace University (NY), US.

Tim Harry

Global Head, Business Development

Tim Harry is Global Head of Business Development for Louis Dreyfus Company. An Australian national, he joined the Group in 2007 as Head of Projects for the Metals Platform. In 2008 he was appointed Head of Business Development for the Europe & Black Sea Region, before taking on his current role in 2009. Prior to joining the Group, Tim worked for ANZ Bank in Melbourne, where he worked in the investment banking division focused on the commodities sector, and previously for Deutsche Bank in London. Tim graduated from Adelaide University with degrees in Commerce and in Law, and also holds qualifications in applied finance and investment from the Financial Securities Institute of Australasia.

Adrian Isman

Head, North America Region,
Chairman of the Board, Calyx Agro Ltd.

Adrian Isman is Head of the North America Region for Louis Dreyfus Company. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for Calyx Agro Ltd. An Argentine national, Adrian joined the Group in 1985 as a Trader in Argentina, where he worked for the Grains, Oilseeds and Finance platforms until 1997. After three years as President of Marc Rich Investments, he re-joined the Group in 2001 in Brazil, where he held several roles managing energy, coffee, grains, oilseeds and cotton activities. Adrian later moved to Singapore as Region COO for Asia, before returning to Brazil in 2010 to manage the integration phase related to the acquisition of Santa Elisa Vale. He subsequently served as Region COO and Head of the North Latin America Region, Senior Head of Juice and Merchandizing Platforms, and Senior Head of Grains and Value Chain Platforms. Adrian holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Universidad de Buenos Aires, and an Advanced Management Program degree from INSEAD and Fundação Dom Cabral.

Sebastien Landerretche

Head, Freight Platform

Sebastien (Seb) Landerretche is Head of the Freight Platform for Louis Dreyfus Company. A French national, he joined the Group in 2004 as Global Manager of Ocean Freight Research, based in China. He subsequently held several key roles, first as Global Head Trader of Ocean Freight, then as Regional Head of the Oilseeds Platform for Asia, and later Regional Head of the Freight Platform for Asia, until his appointment to his present role in 2015. Seb graduated from ESSEC Business School.

Guy de Montulé

Head, Rice Platform

Guy de Montulé is Head of the Rice Platform for Louis Dreyfus Company. A French national, Guy joined the Group in 1999. Prior to this, he worked at Continental Grain Company in Geneva, Switzerland, where he managed the rice division.

Joe Nicosia

Head, Cotton Platform

Joe Nicosia is Head of the Cotton Platform for Louis Dreyfus Company, and Executive Vice President of Louis Dreyfus Company LLC. A US national, he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1981 with a bachelor of arts in economics, and joined the Group that same year as a grain trader in Minneapolis. In 1982 he transferred to Allenberg Cotton Co. in Memphis, and in 1985 assumed responsibility for cotton trading worldwide. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Allenberg Cotton Co. from 1991 to 2012, and from 1989 to 2000 he also served as President of Allenberg Cotton Co. He was Director of Louis Dreyfus Corporation from 1995 to 2010. Since 2010, Joe has been Director and Vice President of LDC Holding Inc., and the coordinator of the trading and merchandizing activities of the cotton business. He is also a member of the board of directors of American Cotton Shippers, where he serves as Chairman of the Futures Committee.

Javier Racciatti

Head, Grains & Oilseeds Strategic Trading Unit

Javier Racciatti is Head of the Grains & Oilseeds Strategic Trading Unit for Louis Dreyfus Company. An Argentine national, he joined the Group in 2006 as Head of Oilseeds in Argentina, and was later appointed Regional Head of Oilseeds for South & West Latin America. In 2015, he took on additional responsibility as Head of the South & West Latin America Region, serving in this capacity until his appointment to his present role in 2019. Prior to joining, Javier worked for Cargill as head of their global meal desk, after holding several positions since 1990 covering research, origination and trading. He graduated from Universidad Nacional de Rosario with a degree in Agronomic Engineering, and is Vice-President of CIARA, Argentina’s chamber of industrial oilseed processors.

Murilo Parada

Head, Juice Platform
and Head, North Latin America Region

Murilo Parada is Head of the North Latin America Region, and also serves as Head of the Juice Platform, after having led the Platform in North Latin America. A Brazilian national, he first joined the Group as a Trainee in 2001. Working initially to set up the Cotton Platform in Brazil, he later moved to the Juice Platform, serving as Commercial Director for Brazil until 2010. He transferred to Beijing in 2011 as General Manager for Juice Operations in Asia, returning to Brazil in 2013 as a Commercial Director for Biosev, until his appointment as Head of Juice for North Latin America in 2014, and Head of Region and Global Head of Juice in 2017. Murilo holds an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Engineering from University of São Paulo, and a Master’s degree in Business Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas.

André Roth

Head, Grains & Oilseeds Platform
and Chairman, North Latin America Region

André Roth is Head of the Grains & Oilseeds Platform, and Chairman of the North Latin America Region, for Louis Dreyfus Company. A Brazilian national, he joined our business in 1993 as a trainee and has since worked in various trading, commercial and leadership roles within Grains and Oilseeds. André graduated in Business Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas. He also served on the Board of Directors of ABIOVE (Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries) and ANEC (National Association of Grain Exporters).

Anthony Tancredi

Trading Operations Officer

Anthony Tancredi is Trading Operations Officer at Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). A US national, Anthony built his 35-year career within the cotton industry, holding various key roles over the years, including as CEO of Allenberg Cotton Co. and subsequently Head of the Cotton Platform at LDC. He later served as Head of the Sugar Platform, Head of Grains, and Co-Head of Grains & Oilseeds.

Jessica Teo

Global Head of Human Resources

Jessica Teo is Global Head of Human Resources at Louis Dreyfus Company. A Singaporean national, Jessica joined the Group in Singapore in 2011, serving as Regional Head of HR for Asia until 2018, and in parallel as Global HR Business Partner to our Merchandizing business segment between 2014 and 2017. Before joining LDC, she held senior HR positions at Neste Oil Singapore, Eastman Chemical Asia Pacific, Singapore Telecoms, Deloitte & Touche and Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (Air Force). She holds a degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore, and a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Rutgers Business School (State University of New York, US).

James Zhou

Head, North Asia Region

James Zhou is Head of the North Asia Region for Louis Dreyfus Company. A Chinese national, James joined the Group as China CEO in 2016, and has since become responsible for managing our overall operations and partnerships in the country. Before joining Louis Dreyfus Company, James developed a deep understanding of the Chinese market throughout his career in commodities, and gained significant experience through several key trading, risk management and managerial roles in the country, particularly in Grains and Oilseeds. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in English Studies from National University of Singapore.

Patrick Treuer

Chief Financial Officer

Patrick Treuer is Chief Financial Officer for Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). A French and Swiss national, Patrick joined LDC’s sister company, Biosev, in 2014 as Head of Strategy, a role he held until his appointment as Head of Strategy for LDC in 2015. From 2018 he served as Chief Strategy Officer, until his appointment to his present role. Prior to joining the Group, he worked for 15 years in investment banking, based in Switzerland and the UK. Patrick graduated from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, majoring in Finance and Accounting.