GARDABAER, ICELAND — Marel, parent company of Sabetha, Kan.-based Wenger, a manufacturer of extrusion and drying technologies, announced May 24 that Scott Krebs, president and chief operations officer of Wenger subsidiary Extru-Tech, has been appointed president of Wenger, effective June 1. He will be reporting to Arni Sigurdsson, chief business officer and deputy chief executive officer of Marel.
Jesper Hjortshøj has served as interim president of Wenger since the company was acquired by Marel in July 2022. Hjortshøj will continue to support Krebs and the Wenger team during the transition before returning to his role as vice president of Business Development at Marel.
In Krebs new role, he will be responsible for driving strategic objectives and leading the Wenger team in the United States, Denmark, Brazil and all other countries. He will work closely with the Marel leadership team and will drive cross-selling of Marel equipment solutions to customers in the plant-based, pet food and feed business segments.
“I am very excited to welcome Scott to the role of president of Wenger,” Sigurdsson said. “Scott has more than 30 years of experience in the field of extrusion technology and is well-known and respected for his many great achievements within Wenger, especially leading the successful build-up and growth of Extru-Tech, a company that is part of Wenger. With Scott on board, we ensure a continuation of the successful Wenger strategy and that we continue to strengthen our position and customer relationships in the Plant, Pet and Feed business segment.”
Krebs joined Wenger in June 1991 as a project engineer and worked his way up to the executive role of president of Extru-Tech during his 30-plus years with the company.
“Scott has demonstrated excellent customer focus, operational and people leadership, and P&L management, and has been instrumental in building and improving the competitive position of Extru-Tech, resulting in more than 50% of profitable topline revenue coming from aftermarket services,” the company said.
Krebs holds a bachelor’s degree of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University.
Wenger will continue to operate as a standalone business division leveraging Marel's global reach and digital solutions to expand its business.
Wenger’s customer base includes pet food processors and companies producing plant-based proteins. More than 60% of Wenger’s revenues are from its pet food side of the business and the rest come from aftermarket services.
“This has resulted in Wenger’s healthy profitability with an EBIT margin of 14% to 15%, strong cash flow and solid return on invested capital,” according to the company. “Q3 2022 was the first quarter where the newly acquired Wenger business was consolidated in Marel’s segment reporting under the name of ‘Plant, Pet and Feed,’ which also included Marel’s own sales of retail and foodservice solutions into this market segment.”
Read more about personnel changes throughout the industry.