DECATUR, ILL. — Ian Pinner and Scott Walker have been named to new positions at Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Mr. Pinner has been named president of global cocoa, where he will oversee the company’s cocoa press operations. He joined ADM in 1999, and most recently he was vice-president of corporate strategic and financial planning, and before that, he was president of grain. He has held several management positions with the company’s European operations, including general manager of European softseeds; managing director for ADM Milling and ADM Pura in the United Kingdom; energy manager for ADM’s European operations; general manager for ADM UK oilseed crushing and refining.

Prior to joining ADM, Mr. Pinner spent seven years with S.C. Banks P.L.C., a European grain merchant. His last position there was senior wheat trader. He received a diploma in business and finance from Mander College in Bedford, England.

Mr. Walker has been named vice-president of oilseeds portfolio optimization, where he will lead the company’s sale of its chocolate business. Prior to his current position, Mr. Walker was president of cocoa, where he oversaw ADM’s global cocoa and chocolate business. Prior to that, he was vice-president and managing director of ADM Cocoa International. He joined ADM in 1993 and was a merchandiser at numerous locations in the oilseed processing business before becoming a commodity merchandiser for ADM Cocoa in 1998. In 2002, he was named commercial director, ADM Cocoa South America, and in 2004, he became commercial director of ADM Cocoa International.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business economics from Southern Illinois University. 

“As we work to sell our chocolate business — while retaining and continuing to improve our global cocoa press operations — it is important that each of these businesses have strong leaders who can dedicate themselves fully to these distinct efforts,” said Matt Jansen, senior vice-president and president of oilseeds. “Ian and Scott are both proven leaders, and I look forward to working with them in their new roles.”

In mid-April, ADM detailed plans to pursue the sale of its global chocolate business, while retaining the majority of its cocoa press operations.

“Over the last year or so, we’ve taken significant actions to improve our cocoa business, most notably by significantly reducing invested capital,” said Patricia Woertz, chairman and chief executive officer. “At the same time, we have also seen industry conditions improve as crop supplies have returned to normal. Given improved underlying conditions and the success of our efforts to reduce capital intensity, we see a promising outlook for the cocoa press business and believe it will meet our returns objectives.

“We had extensive negotiations with a potential buyer regarding the sale of our global cocoa and chocolate business. In the end, we could not agree to an outcome that met ADM’s objectives. Instead, ADM is moving ahead with a process to sell our global chocolate business while retaining most of our cocoa press operations. This approach will position ADM to realize the greatest overall value from these businesses.”