Verdesian Life Sciences has named two international crop health industry veterans to manage the company's product development and marketing in the Asia/Pacific and European regions.
John Matheson has been named director, sales & product development, for the Asia/Pacific region, which includes Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Japan, Vietnam, Africa and Indonesia. In addition, James Perkins has been named as European commercial manager and will be responsible for maintaining current commercial business relationships in the European Union (EU) as well as finding and developing new business relationships for Verdesian product lines.
"The success of farmers all over the world is dependent on the decisions they make and the tools they have to work with," said Greg Thompson, chief operating officer for Verdesian. "Bringing John and James on board will ensure that our international customers receive the best possible advice, experience and knowledge."
Matheson is based in Singapore and is a Canadian citizen who has also lived in Peru, Uruguay, Malaysia, Australia, the UK and the U.S. He'll focus on finding new distribution channels for Verdesian proprietary technologies, setting up research and providing sales and technical support to distributors, retailers, agricultural advisers and farmers. Matheson holds a mathematics degree from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and has worked in international business, as well as agricultural, turf and ornamental markets, for more than 35 years.
"I am excited to join the Verdesian team because of what they are doing to fit their products with what is needed in the geographies I will be covering," Matheson said. "We have a real opportunity to improve the lives of local farmers and increase the return on investment they can get from their farming operations and do so in an environmentally-sustainable manner."
To date, Matheson has considerable experience working with a variety of crops, including rice, oil palm, corn, tea, bananas, pineapple and a wide range of vegetables. "A lot of growers of these crops don't have a great deal of technology to work with, and their average farm size is only two-to-three acres," Matheson explains. "Giving them new tools and technologies will help make them more efficient, profitable and improve their standard of living."
Matheson's previous experience includes working with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer efficiency technologies as a managing director at TMI Pre Ltd; an area manager, international manager and international director at the J.R. Simplot Company; an area manager for Generation Products; a business consultant at Taysar Enterprises and a director/manager at Boon Productions, Limited.
Perkins holds a bachelor's degree in intercultural studies and a master's degree in business administration from Baker University. He began working for SFP in 2010 as the company's Mediterranean business manager, then shifted his focus to Europe, where he worked with some of the largest manufacturers and distributors of fertilizer in the EU before joining Verdesian.
"It continues to be an exciting experience for me to learn new cultures and find ways to make Verdesian products culturally relevant," Perkins said. "Europe is a very exciting place to be right now with the technology Verdesian brings to the table."
About Verdesian Life SciencesFounded in 2012, Verdesian Life Sciences offers patented biological, nutritional, seed treatment & inoculant technologies for high-value specialty crops, row crops, and turf and ornamental markets. Verdesian's plant-health products, nutritional catalysts and seed treatments/inoculants help growers farm more efficiently to maximize yields. Verdesian's technologies answer the needs facing agriculture including increasing pressures on food demand, supply and food safety. Verdesian remains committed to the research and development of environmentally sustainable products. Further information about Verdesian is available at www.vlsci.com.
1.27.2015