Each month, we put the spotlight on a Tirlán employee and for our July newsletter, we’re talking to newly appointed Technical Sales Manager for South East Asia Ludovic Chesnay

Ludovic Chesnay has joined Tirlán and is shortly moving to Vietnam where he will take up the newly-created role of Technical Sales Manager for South East Asia.

The French-born pastry and bakery chef has over 30 years’ experience in the industry and brings a wealth of international expertise to the new post. He’s really looking forward to putting back on his chef’s whites and demonstrating Avonmore’s products to a captive foodservice industry in the region.

“My role is to look after the South East Asian market and be the link between Tirlán, our business partners (the importer/distributor) and the end user of Avonmore products. When you work with the retail sector, your role is to get product on the shelf and you know it will be consumed at home by a family or an individual.

“When you work with the foodservice industry, you need to be across all of the channels, all of the time. I love food, have worked all over the world and will bring all of this passion to the role. I have worked across Europe (France, UK, Germany and Switzerland)  for world-renowned pastry boutiques, restaurants and four- and five-star hotels.
“As a young pastry chef, I decided to cross the Atlantic, to work and lived in the USA and Canada. In Montreal, I went to Université du Quebec à Montreal (UQAM) to study management. My career then took me to the South Pacific – Australia and New Caledonia.

“I came back to Ottawa, Canada to share my culinary experience, teaching Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa and later spent time in Dubai, working as the International Culinary Advisor to a big French dairy producer.”

Ludovic will be based in Ho Chi Minh city and is revelling in the new challenge. “I had been a little bit nervous about joining Tirlán. But I’m very happy. Our team is very multi-cultural and I’ve been made feel very welcome. Tirlán has allowed me help shape this role so I can demonstrate as well as storytell and sell. Tirlán is still a relatively new player in the UHT cream market in South-East Asia and the opportunities are endless. It’s very exciting.

“In my new role, I will be more involved with sales, with the end user. I will not just be talking about the product, I will be showcasing how it works, driving sales. I’m also really looking forward to storytelling, to reinforcing with the captive South-East Asian audience the grass-fed credentials, telling people about sustainable Irish farming, the weather, how the cows are cared for, how Irish farmers have been doing this for generations and are working with the land, will not compromise it and are caretaking for the next generation.

“There is still so much we can do in the areas of cream cheese, technical butter and more and I’m looking forward to working with the Innovation Centre and with marketing to help create a whole new range of products for the foodservice industry, which will, in turn, create more added-value opportunities for the products we make from quality milk from family farms in our area,” he said.

Asked how he likes to unwind, he said: “I love food and I love to cook. There is nothing like Wexford strawberries, Avonmore cream, sponge cake made from local produce and of course, a nice Irish gin and tonic. Local is best and I really enjoy the natural credentials behind great Irish food and produce.”