Cargill announces new leadership appointments to accelerate growth in the Middle East, Türkiye and Africa region

ISTANBUL (28 May 2025) – To sustain its strong growth momentum and enhance organizational efficiency across META, Cargill has reorganized its leadership structure. These four key appointments are designed to enable more agile responses to regional opportunities, foster closer collaboration between business units, and accelerate returns on investment.

The new structure also reinforces Cargill’s “One Cargill” 2030 vision, aiming to create broader development opportunities for employees while further embedding the company’s strong culture.

According to the announcement:

• Cem Beysel has been appointed as Functional Systems and Strategy Senior Director, Cargill Food META
• Cenk Erkan has been appointed as Sales and Commercial Marketing Senior Director, Cargill Food META
• Cem Bilge has been appointed as Starches, Sweeteners, Texturizers and Cocoa Product Lines Senior Director, Cargill Food META
• Kıvanç Çekiç has been appointed as Operations and Supply Chain Senior Director, Cargill Food META

 

Murat Tarakçıoğlu, Managing Director of Cargill Food META, commented:
“Managed from Türkiye with a strong local team, the META region continues to grow by combining Cargill’s global vision with local expertise. With our increasing investments each year, we are further strengthening our presence in the region. These new appointments aim to accelerate this momentum, respond to opportunities more swiftly, and offer greater development prospects for our employees. In doing so, we are embracing, more than ever, the core values that define Cargill’s culture—taking positive action even in challenging times, staying constructive, and acting as one team. We see this leadership restructuring as an important step toward bringing these values to life and advancing as One Cargill.”

 

Leadership Biographies:

Cem Beysel has been appointed as Functional Systems and Strategy Senior Director, Cargill Food META. A graduate of Marmara University’s English Business Administration Department and the German High School of Istanbul, Beysel started his career at Arthur Andersen as an auditor. He joined Cargill in 1999 and has held various leadership roles in finance and business development in Türkiye and Europe. Beysel, who most recently held the role of Director of Starches, Sweeteners, Texturizers, Cocoa, Chocolate Product Groups, and Sustainability, will now also be responsible for functional systems, chocolate, and foodservice consumption product groups, in addition to strategic marketing and category management in his new role. He will continue to serve as the Director of Sustainability.

Cenk Erkan has been appointed as Senior Director, Cargill Food META of Sales and Commercial Marketing. A graduate of Middle East Technical University’s Chemical Engineering Department, Erkan completed his MBA at Boğaziçi University. He began his career in 2002 at Prosim Dış Ticaret Kimya as a Sales Engineer and served as Deputy Sales Manager at OCI Chemicals Türkiye between 2003 and 2007. Since joining Cargill in 2007, Erkan has held various sales and leadership roles across Türkiye, Iran, and Israel. Between 2016 and 2020, he served as Oils Product Manager for the Middle East and Africa region, and from 2020 to 2023, as Sales Manager for industrial and foodservice channels. As of June 2023, he has been serving as Director of Foodservice for Cargill Food META.

Cem Bilge will continue his career as the Senior Director of Starches, Sweeteners, Texturizers, and Cocoa Product Groups at Cargill Food META, following his role as Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain for META and Russia at Cargill Food. A graduate of Gaziantep University’s Mechanical Engineering Department, Bilge held various production responsibilities at Cargill between 1999 and 2020. During this period, he served in several critical roles, starting as a Control Engineer, then as a Shift Supervisor, Refinery Specialist, EHS Coordinator, Utilities Supervisor, and Maintenance and Reliability Manager. From 2013 to 2016, he was the Plant Manager at the Bursa Orhangazi Corn Milling Plant, and from 2016 to 2020, he served as Regional Operations Director. Between 2020 and 2023, he worked as the General Manager of Production Companies at Azersun Holding, gaining leadership experience across different geographies. In 2023, Bilge returned to Cargill as Operations Director for META and Russia, bringing his extensive experience back to the company. With his long-standing background at Cargill, he now continues his career as the Senior Director of Starches, Sweeteners, Texturizers, and Cocoa Product Groups at Cargill Food META.

Kıvanç Çekiç has been appointed as Manufacturing and Supply Chain Senior Director, Cargill Food META. A graduate of Istanbul University’s Economics Department, Çekiç began his career at Reysaş Logistics as a Logistics Specialist. Between 2006 and 2010, Çekiç held various planning roles at Cadbury Plc, where he worked in the areas of supply, inventory, demand, and production planning. From 2010 to 2013, he worked at Nestlé as Customer Services Manager and Sales Operations Manager. Between 2013 and 2015, he held the positions of Customer Services and Logistics Manager, and later Group Supply Chain Manager at Yıldız Holding. From 2015 to 2018, he worked as Business Operations Director at Canon Eurasia. Çekiç, who joined Cargill in 2018 as Supply Chain Director, led end-to-end management of supply chain processes, efficiency improvement initiatives, and digital transformation projects. In his new role, he will be responsible for the strategic management of Cargill’s manufacturing and supply chain operations in the META region.