Executive Team
The Grobest management team’s professional and industry-focused experience drives the company forward. Comprised of experts from the world of biotechnology, animal nutrition, aquaculture and other associated technologies, this combined expertise of the team reflects Grobest’s global reach and the company’s success.
Grobest’s corporate executives proven track record of management excellence, as well as respective industry expertise—combined with the strong, advisory support of our Board of Directors—is a major factor in the company’s leadership and ever increasing worldwide success.
Hua Du
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Du joins Grobest after 11 years of service at Solvay, a leading global chemicals and materials company, where he held the position of President of Global Business Units, and Member of Executive Committee, leading several global business units with revenues of EUR 5 Billion, more than 10,000 employees, and technologies covering a wide range of end markets. Prior to Solvay, he worked at Rohm and Haas Company for 13 years, driving growth in Asia for its Electronic Materials group.
Mr. Du graduated from Peking University in China and holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), organic chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign U.S.A.
Shandy Chong
Chief Financial Officer
Shandy joined Grobest in June 2020 as Finance Director and has progressed into the capacity of Chief Financial Officer in March 2022.
Shandy has over 20 years of professional experience in finance specializing in business strategy, planning, integrations, restructuring, and operational excellence. She has had diverse industry experience covering Asia and United States in the retail, FMCG, manufacturing, hotels, and electrical components sector for publicly listed as well as privately held companies.
Shandy graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with bachelor’s degree in Finance and received her MBA degree from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. She is also a CPA in Washington State, United States.
Terry Yip
Chief Human Resources Officer
Terry joined us with over 25 years of experience in organizational effectiveness, talent management and business transformation. Most recently, she held the position of Human Resources Director of Trouw Nutrition Asia Pacific, located in Bangkok. Terry also had an extensive career at Dow Chemicals, where she held various HR leadership roles for 18 years. Throughout her career, Terry has demonstrated her ability to design and implement HR strategies that are closely aligned with business objectives. She has also been successful in fostering a high-performance culture within organizations to attract and retain top talent.
Terry earned an MBA from University of Birmingham and a Postgraduate Diploma in Training from University of Leicester.
Edena Low
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Edena has more than 25 years of legal, public affairs, social and environmental sustainability experience across the globe, spanning different industries. Most recently, she co-founded and was CEO at The AdviXory, after spending 11 years at Mattel Inc., where her last role was Global Vice President for Supply Chain Compliance and Sustainability. Previously, she had varied leadership positions at Group RCI, American Standard, Iomega and Ingram Micro, all US Listed corporations, after she began her career as a corporate lawyer at Singapore’s largest law firm of Allen & Gledhill.
Edena received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of London and is a qualified Barrister at Law of England and Wales, and an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore.
ANDREAS VON SCHOLTEN
Chief Commercial Officer
Andreas has served as Grobest Chief Commercial Officer since January 2023. Most recently Andreas was the Chief Executive Officer for Barramundi Group, a leading aquaculture company focusing on barramundi production and headquartered in Singapore. Prior to this, Andreas was the Asia Pacific General Manager for PHARMAQ part of Zoetis, the leading producer of vaccines for the aquaculture sector. In this role Andreas was the P&L responsible for key markets across Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Japan and Australia as well as the global head of marketing for PHARMAQ.
Prior to entering the aquaculture sector, Andreas held various senior management positions with Coloplast, a global medical devices company. His various roles included Strategy Manager in Asia, Director of Strategy and Business Development in China, and General Manager Asia Emerging Markets.
Andreas has resided in Asia since 2010, living in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. He holds Master’s and Bachelor's Degrees in Science & Economics from the University of Copenhagen.
Chi-Kang Ko
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Mr. Ko has devoted his entire life to the study of oceans and development of related industries. He has spared no effort in development of aquaculture and technologies used in aquatic products processing, and with all his passion participated in government projects engaging the elites of the industrial and academic worlds. Applying modern know-how and technology, he invented “green feed” that attains perfect equilibrium between industrial mass production and ecological harmony. Having greatly influenced the competitiveness of Taiwanese fishery and aquaculture industries, in 2011 Mr. Ko received distinction as “Pride of Fisheries” from the Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture, Taiwan, while in 2014, he won the Ocean Awards by National Taiwan Ocean University. Grobest Group, co-founded by Mr. Ko, has built up worldwide reputation and earned him multiple awards as well. He has served as the ever-bright beacon in the global aquaculture industry for more than four decades.
Gregory Robinson
Vice Chairman
Gregory is a member of the Financing Group responsible for financings across APAC. He focuses on opportunities across all sectors and has worked on Permira’s investments in Topcast, Grobest, Tricor and IMED.
Before Permira Gregory worked at KKR and Citi across London and Hong Kong.
Kjell Bjordal
Member of the Board
Kjell Bjordal is a professional serving in boards of directors for various companies, mainly as chairman.
He has previously held the positions of: CEO of EWOS Group in years 1998–2014, CEO of Glamox Group in years 1989–1998, and CFO of Glamox Group in years 1985–1989.
Kjell holds an MBA degree, which he received at Norwegian School of Business and completed an Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School.
Bao-Ji Chen
Member of the Board
Mr. Chen has dedicated his life to the study of animal science. In 1977, he completed a MSc degree in animal nutrition from the Department of Animal Husbandry at NTU, Taiwan. In 1989 he earned a PhD in animal science at Cornell University, USA, majoring in poultry nutrition. He holds a title of Professor Emeritus at the Department of Animal Science and Technology at NTU, with which he has been associated throughout his academic career.
His knowledge and devotion to research brought him numerous awards. In 1983, he was given Special Contribution Award by Taiwan Provincial Government; in 1991, the Council of Agriculture presented him with Outstanding Achievement Award; and in 2006, he received Academic Award from China Animal Science Association.
Mr. Chen’s rich career has spanned beyond academia. In years 1997-2000, he occupied the role of director at Animal Industry Department, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan. He also served as senior vice president of Asian-Pacific Poultry Federation in 2007-2011 and president of Agricultural Association of Taiwan in 2009-2011.
Wei-Huang Chen
Member of the Board
Mr. Chen obtained an MBA diploma from National Sun Yat-Sen University. He currently holds the post of member of the board and member of the audit committee at Grobest Group.
Mr. Chen previously held an office in National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance, as director’s secretary. He also worked as adviser to Yuan’s General Hospital corporation aggregate. Besides his current role in Grobest Group, he is also a sole board member of JMC Electronics and a part-time lecturer at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology.
Daniel Tan
Member of the Board
Daniel focuses on investment opportunities in the Services and Technology sectors. He has worked on a number of transactions including English First Kids & Teens, Magento, Pepperjam, and Tricor.
Prior to joining Permira, Daniel worked for Serent Capital for two years, investing in middle-market growth businesses. Before that, he spent two years with Barclays Capital’s investment banking division covering the Technology sector.
Sean Donovan
Member of the Board
Sean works across all sectors focusing on transaction matters. He has worked on a number of transactions including Full Truck Alliance and Yogiyo.
Prior to joining Permira, Sean worked in the M&A private equity team of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, in both their London and Hong Kong offices, for over eight years.
