Vitiva, Slovenia, has opened a U.S. office in Kentucky to better serve the North American market, appointing Connie Sandusky, Ph.D. Vice President Sales and Marketing for North America. Sandusky joins Vitiva with an impressive track record of driving sales growth in the functional food ingredient arena. In the new position, Sandusky will oversee Vitiva’s commercial activities in the U.S. by developing key commercial relationships in the food, beverage and nutraceutical markets.

Prior to Vitiva, Sandusky held technical sales and marketing leadership positions with Aurora Algae, DD Williamson, Kalsec and Solae companies, where she gained valuable commercial experience across a wide range of ingredients, including: colors, flavors, antioxidants, proteins, nutraceuticals and omega oils.

“We are delighted to welcome Ms. Sandusky on board,” says Ohad Cohen, CEO of Vitiva. “Her technical knowledge, commercial experience and passion for success is exactly what we’ve been seeking to deliver our brands and service to the North American market. Opening this direct office allows Vitiva to provide better and more effective support utilizing Vitiva’s strong technical know-how and expertise, while significantly improving our competitiveness.”

“I’m very excited to be a part of Vitiva,” notes Sandusky. “I intend to lead Vitiva's sales to the next level via high-impact growth in both food and beverage and supplement industries. Vitiva’s portfolio is broad and advanced in comparison to similar existing products in the U.S. market. The company has a great scientific basis to support their solutions.” Vitiva’s products and capabilities can help food and beverage companies improve their products' shelf life, reduce caloric content with customized stevia sweetener systems, replace artificial colors with natural and enhance product and supplement value with standardized botanicals.

The new office will offer Vitiva’s expanded portfolio, including customized antioxidant solutions based on rosemary and other synergists (VivOX, INOLENS, AquaROX and SyneROX); botanical extracts for nutraceutical applications, Sweet’n Vit customized stevia sweetener systems; and the Bright’n Color line of natural colors.

Vitiva is a leading, fast-growing and innovative company providing advanced, application-specific solutions based on natural extracts for the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Its extensive portfolio includes: VivOX, INOLENS, AquaROX and SyneROX products for oxidation management as well as other natural solutions covering food safety, water binding and food enhancement, to replace synthetic additives and ingredients. As a science-driven company, Vitiva offers extensive technical support to help its customers.