Photo (left to right): Gael Touya, Marc Prieur and Xiangwei Gong
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill.–AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE: ATR) today announced the appointment of Gael Touya to President, Aptar Pharma effective September 1, 2018. Touya, who had been President, Aptar Food + Beverage since January of 2016, will continue to report to CEO Stephan Tanda. Touya succeeds Salim Haffar who has announced he will depart Aptar at the beginning of September to become CEO of a privately-held provider of outsourced pharmaceutical services.
Touya, whose career with Aptar spans over 20 years, has held various business development and leadership roles including leading Aptar’s Beauty + Home business in China and Japan during a six-year stay in Asia. While President of Aptar Food + Beverage, he has succeeded in leading this segment into new application fields, raising operational performance and expanding our global footprint with thoughtful engagement of new and existing customers. In addition, he has diligently overseen Aptar’s award-winning innovation and sustainability initiatives and will continue to do so in his new role.
Marc Prieur, Aptar’s Vice President of Operational Excellence, will succeed Touya as President of Aptar Food + Beverage. Prieur has made substantial contributions to Aptar over his 20 year career, having lived and worked in Europe, the United States and China. His balanced experience in operations and running businesses, including Sales & Operations for Consumer Health Care in Europe and Aptar’s Pharma business in Asia, have prepared him well for his new role. Most recently, Prieur has built up our strong Operational Excellence pillar and greatly contributed to our current business transformation.
Stephan Tanda commented, “Salim and his experienced team have done an outstanding job of setting the foundation for future growth in our Pharma business. We thank him for his years of dedicated service and leadership, and we wish him well. Gael, who is a respected Aptar veteran with decades of successful leadership roles across our other businesses, was a logical choice to succeed Salim. With his extensive, cross-functional leadership experience across Aptar, Marc will be a great addition to the Executive Committee as he succeeds Gael. Over the coming months, Salim, Gael and Marc will work closely together to ensure smooth transitions for their respective responsibilities.”
Aptar is also pleased to announce that effective October 15, 2018, Xiangwei Gong will join Aptar as President, Aptar Asia. Xiangwei will report to CEO Stephan Tanda and will become a member of Aptar’s Executive Committee. Xiangwei, in close collaboration with her colleagues on the Executive Committee, will focus especially on accelerating business and organizational development for the group across Asia, strengthening our external networks while building further on our strong presence and talent in India and China.
Xiangwei is experienced in building multicultural business teams and is a successful, entrepreneurial leader of B2B and B2C businesses. She has a strong track record in the Beauty, Personal Care, Nutrition and Pharma industries. Xiangwei has lived and worked in several countries while holding increasingly senior roles for Roche Vitamins and Royal DSM during her more than 20 year career. Most recently Xiangwei held the title of President DSM Hydrocolloids, a China based, global business, which she scaled through multiple acquisitions and strong organic growth. Xiangwei earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and an undergraduate business degree from the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing, China.
Commenting on the appointment, Stephan Tanda said, “I am excited about driving the future of Aptar with our new executive leadership team. We’re focused on bringing stronger resources to all the regions, including the high-growth economies, and increasing the empowerment and accountability of our regional teams in order to drive growth. Xiangwei is an excellent addition to our experienced team. Together, our leadership team will use insights, design, engineering and science to partner with our customers in creating innovative packaging technologies that make a meaningful difference in the lives, looks, health and homes of people around the world.”
