Cargill Announces Senior Management Appointments

Cargill Food Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region is restructuring its leadership organization and implementing four new senior executive appointments.

Cargill is reorganizing its leadership structure in the META region to sustain strong growth momentum and increase organizational efficiency. The four senior appointments support the objectives of responding more agilely to regional opportunities, operating business units in closer collaboration, and accelerating returns on investments.

The new structure also aims to strengthen Cargill's 2030 vision of "One Cargill" by creating more development opportunities for employees and further reinforcing company culture.

According to the announcement:

• Cem Beysel, Senior Director of Cargill Food META Functional Systems and Strategy,
• Cenk Erkan, Senior Director of Cargill Food META Sales and Commercial Marketing,
• Cem Bilge, Senior Director of Cargill Food META Starch, Sweeteners, Texturizers and Cocoa Product Group,
• Kıvanç Çekiç, Senior Director of Cargill Food META Production and Supply Chain will assume their respective positions.

Murat Tarakçıoğlu, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Cargill Food META, said: "The META region, which we manage with a Turkey-based and strong local team, continues to grow by combining Cargill's global vision with local expertise. We are strengthening our presence in the region through increasing investments each year. With these new appointments, we aim to accelerate this momentum, evaluate opportunities more agilely, and provide our employees with greater development opportunities. While doing all this, we are adopting the core values that guide Cargill's culture—taking constructive action even in difficult situations, being constructive, and operating with team spirit—more strongly than ever. We see this leadership restructuring as an important step in reflecting these values in the field and moving forward as 'One Cargill'."

Cem Beysel was appointed as Senior Director of Cargill Food META Functional Systems and Strategy. Beysel is a graduate of Marmara University English Business Administration Department and Istanbul German High School. Before joining Cargill, Beysel worked as an auditor at Arthur Andersen. Beysel joined Cargill in 1999 and held various leadership positions in finance and business development in Turkey and Europe. Most recently serving as Director of Starch, Sweeteners, Texturizers, Cocoa, Chocolate Product Groups and Sustainability, in his new role Beysel will be responsible for functional systems, chocolate and out-of-home consumption product groups, as well as strategic marketing and category management. He will continue in his Sustainability Director role.

Cenk Erkan will assume the position of Senior Director of Cargill Food META Sales and Commercial Marketing. Erkan is a graduate of Middle East Technical University Chemical Engineering Department and completed his MBA at Boğaziçi University. Erkan began his career in 2002 at Prosim Foreign Trade Chemistry as a Sales Engineer. Between 2003 and 2007, he served as Assistant Sales Manager at OCI Chemicals Turkey. Joining Cargill in 2007, Erkan held various sales and management positions in the Turkey, Iran and Israel markets. Between 2016 and 2020, he served as Oils Product Manager for the Middle East and Africa region. During 2020–2023, Erkan worked as Sales Manager for industrial and out-of-home consumption channels. As of June 2023, Erkan was serving as Director of Cargill Food META Out-of-Home Consumption.

Cem Bilge will assume the position of Senior Director of Cargill Food META Starch, Sweeteners, Texturizers and Cocoa Product Groups following his role as Director of Cargill Food META and Russia Production and Supply Chain. Bilge is a graduate of Gaziantep University Mechanical Engineering Department. Between 1999 and 2020, Bilge held various production responsibilities at Cargill. During this period, he served in several critical roles including Control Engineering, Shift Supervision, Refinery Specialist, EHS Coordination, Auxiliary Services Supervision and Maintenance and Safety Management. Between 2013 and 2016, Bilge served as Plant Manager at the Bursa Orhangazi Corn Processing Facility, and subsequently as Regional Operations Director from 2016 to 2020. Between 2020 and 2023, Bilge worked as General Manager of Production Companies within Azersun Holding, bringing leadership experience gained across different geographies. With long-standing experience within Cargill, Bilge returned to the company in 2023 as META and Russia Operations Director. Following his return to Cargill in 2023, he will continue his career as Senior Director of Cargill Food META Starch, Sweeteners, Texturizers and Cocoa Product Groups.

Kıvanç Çekiç was appointed as Senior Director of Cargill Food META Production and Supply Chain. Çekiç is a graduate of Istanbul University English Economics Department. He began his career at Reysaş Logistics as a Logistics Specialist. Between 2006 and 2010, Çekiç held various planning roles within Cadbury Plc, working in supply, inventory, demand and production planning. Between 2010 and 2013, Çekiç served as Customer Service Manager and Sales Operations Manager at Nestlé. Between 2013 and 2015, he held positions as Customer Service and Logistics Manager and Supply Chain Group Manager at Yıldız Holding. Between 2015 and 2018, Çekiç served as Business Operations Director at Canon Eurasia. Joining Cargill in 2018 as Supply Chain Director, Çekiç led end-to-end supply chain process management, efficiency improvements and digital transformation projects. In his new position, Çekiç will be responsible for strategic management of Cargill's production and supply chain operations in the META region.