Andreas Schock­­hoven

Managing Director (marketing-controlling)

Andreas Schockhoven was born in Cologne in 1967. Already during his economic studies at the University of Cologne he gained experience in various sectors of the industry in well known companies, at home and abroad.

After finishing his studies in 1993, Andreas worked as a project and marketing administrator for the company Firmenich Deutschland and subsequently for two years as Marketing Assistant for the Business Unit Beverages Europe in the divisional headquarters in Geneva. On returning to Germany he worked as a Marketing and Business Development Manager where he was responsible for Germany, Benelux and Northern Europe. In this function Andreas built up the local marketing and sensoric activities.

In July 2003, Firmenich assigned the commission management of the Aroma department to him as Commercial Director Flavours, at first for Germany, Scandinavia and Benelux, later in Vienna for Austria, central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. In Vienna Andreas played a decisive role in the set up of the European Distribution Networks of Firmenich.

In November 2004 he founded Innotaste together with further partners.

Klaus Olschewski

Managing Director (sales)

Klaus Olschewski was born in Sensburg in 1960. He is married and has two children. He began his career with his commercial traineeship in 1979 at the company Henkel in Düsseldorf.

After working for three years at the company Weinstock and Siebert where he was responsible for the sales of special chemicals, he returned to Henkel KGAA. He worked there from 1985 to 1990 where he was responsible for the sales and marketing of chemical base substances in Germany as well as building up a national distribution network.

A further stage was his 2 years at the company Kao corporation where he was responsible for the sales of aroma chemicals in Europe. In 1992 he changed to Firmenich Germany in Kerpen where he worked as Key Account Manager.

In November 2004 he founded Innotaste together with further partners.

Davide Bencini

Sales

Davide Bencini was born in Florence in 1977. After getting a university degree in literature and languages and while working as Export Manager at Carapelli Firenze SpA (Deoleo S.A. Group), he discovered his great passion for selling food and food ingredients.

After 5 years in export for the German, Austrian, Swiss, Central European and Scandinavian markets, Davide moved to Berlin in 2010. He worked there for another 3 years for Deoleo S.A., before finally moving to the Berlin marzipan factory Georg Lemke GmbH & Co. KG as Key Account Manager Export in the bakery and confectionery segment. As Area Sales Manager, Davide was responsible for customer and business development in some countries of Western Europe as well as Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Since September 2016 Davide has been working with Innotaste GmbH as Account Manager.

Diana Dalhoff

Application

Diana Dalhoff was born in 1977 in Paderborn. Already during her studies of home economies and nutritional science at the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg she gained practical experience in the sensorial and analytical evaluation of food at the company G.C. Hahn & Co in Lübeck.

After her studies Diana started working at Worlée NaturProdukte GmbH in Hamburg. During the following 9 years she was responsible for the product development of flavoured and non-flavoured herbal teas and infusions as well as the quality control of their ingredients.

After her maternity leave Diana continued her professional career in the quality management department of a convenience food producer in the Ruhr area. In this function she predominantly took care of product specifications, the complaint management as well as the company’s IFS & HACCP certificates.

Since February 2012 Diana has been working with Innotaste as Application Manager.

Sabine Bimberg-Huneke

Product safety and regulatory affairs

Sabine Bimberg-Huneke was born in 1985 in Magdeburg. After obtaining her A Levels she studied Domestic and Nutritional Science at the University of Applied Science in Bernburg. Already during her study she gained practical experience in the sensorial and analytical evaluation of food. Furthermore, an internship at the company Agrarmarketinggesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbh provided her an insight in nutrition marketing.

In her bachelor thesis, she focused on optimizing the production process of UHT milk at Nordmilch GmbH (today Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH, DMK).

After having worked for several months in Ecuador she started her master studies at the Chrstian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. She completed her master studies in 2012. As a trainee at the company Friesenkrone GmbH und Co. KG Sabine collected experiences in product development of fish gourmet food and wrote her master thesis.

Since October 2012 Sabine Bimberg-Huneke has been working as a Technical Service Manager for Innotaste GmbH.

Dirk Förstner

Sales

Dirk Förstner was born in 1978 in Manila/Philippines. He started his professional career in the field of gastronomy where he completed two apprenticeships with a final exam as restaurant expert as well as a qualified chef. During this period he gained experience in international enterprises such as the Sheraton Hotel at Frankfurt Airport.

After that Dirk studied Nutritional Science at the University Niederrhein in Mönchengladbach. During his studies he worked part-time as chef and also completed a traineeship in the internal catering section of Henkel K.G.a.A., where he developed a new logistics concept. He gained further experience in the Food Industry by doing traineeships at apetito AG in Rheine followed by his diploma.

After completion of his studies in 2008 he worked as Product Developer and Application Technologist for Loryma GmbH in Zwingenberg. His activities covered the development of functional raw material mixtures for different areas of the food industry. His expertise was focused on the development of coating systems, fine food, meat and vegetarian products.

Since October 2012 Dirk Förstner has been working as an Account Manager for Innotaste GmbH.

Andrea Franzen

Customer Service

Andrea Franzen was born in 1991 in Aachen. Following her vocational diploma, she started her training to become an industrial clerk in a Krefeld-based, family-run paper and plastics processing company.

During the course of these three years, she worked in a very wide range of departments, such as purchasing, sales, shipping and accounting as well as on the telephone switchboard. Once she had successfully completed her training, she switched to working in the sales department. Her main tasks included order processing as well as providing both german and international customers and trade representatives with support.

Andrea Franzen has been employed as a sales assistant at Innotaste GmbH since September 2015.

Marie Hausmann

Sales

Marie Hausmann was born in 1983 in Duisburg. After doing her A Levels she studied Home Economics and Nutritional Science at the University of Applied Science in Mönchengladbach. She gained her first practical experiences by working in several part-time jobs and internships at well-known companies like Thyssen Krupp Delicate GmbH and Bayer Gastronomie GmbH. In her diploma thesis she developed a concept to optimize the quality criteria in the gastronomy at the Cologne Trade Fair.

After finishing her studies in 2008 she gained her first work experience as an advisor in the purchase and development department at Dinea Gastronomie GmbH in Cologne. During this job she began her master studies in Food and Nutrition Science with the focus on management of food processing systems. Her master thesis was an analysis of the information flow in the dairy industry from the producer until the final end users.

After her final degree in 2011 a stay abroad in the US for several months followed.

Since February 2012 Marie Hausmann has been working as an Account Manager at Innotaste GmbH.

Sophie Marie Karayusuf

Purchasing / Customer Service

Sophie Karayusuf was born in Willich in 1994. After her A levels (Abitur), she completed an apprenticeship as Industrial Management Assistant at Cargill Germany GmbH and simultaneously began studying business administration at the Hochschule Niederrhein (University of Applied Sciences) in Mönchengladbach.

During her three-year apprenticeship, Sophie worked in all departments, such as accounting, quality assurance, human resources, tariffs, as well as purchasing and sales, including sales support, customer service and field sales. Following her apprenticeship, Sophie worked at Cargill as HR Accountant.

Since November 2016, Sophie has been working at Innotaste GmbH as Purchasing and Sales Assistant.

Diana Koch

Product safety and regulatory affairs

After school Diana Koch went on to study at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Food Technology.

Diana began her career as a Quality and Environmental Management Officer at Wiesenhof Gastroservice in Lohne. Following this she took up a position as a Food & Beverages Applications Engineer at Chr. Hansen GmbH in Nienburg/Weser. Here she mainly gained experience in the use of natural colourings in confectionery, beverages and ice cream.

Four years later Diana moved to the firm Roseneiskrem GmbH, where she worked for eleven years in the areas of product development, regulatory affairs and quality management. She developed ice cream for market entry, produced ice cream labelling for national and international clients and was responsible in particular for IFS, BRC and ISO certification audits, among other things.

Since 2018, Diana has been managing the Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs activities of Innotaste GmbH.

Isabella Merkel

Purchasing

Isabella Merkel was born in Malapane (Upper Silesian) in 1980. After doing her Alevels she did a traineeship as an export sales assistant at the company C.H. Erbslöh KG in Krefeld, where she worked after finishing her traineeship successfully in 2003.

She worked there in the quality management department until December 2004.

Isabella has worked for Innotaste as a sales assistant since January 2005. Since 2011 she manages the purchasing side.

Jan Philipp Olschewski

Sales

Jan Philipp Olschewski was born in Ratingen in 1998. After graduating from high school, he completed internships in various fields. In 2018, he began a part-time degree in Business Administration.

During this time, he worked as Junior Consultant at Seven Principles Solution & Consulting GmbH. His areas of responsibility there involved managing the Project Management Office for a major customer, active consulting in the aviation industry on a Europe-wide basis and supporting sales activities in the acquisition of new customers.

After successfully completing his Bachelor’s degree in September 2021, he started a part-time Master’s programme in Sales Management.

Jan Philipp Olschewski has been employed as Account Manager at Innotaste GmbH since January 2022.

Handan Restelica

Customer Service

Handan Restelica was born in Krefeld in 1985. After finishing school Handan started a traineeship as a health care nurse, before she came to the company C.H. Erbslöh in 2008 to do work experience.

After successfully finishing a company internal project she completed her traineeship at the company as a wholesale and foreign trade clerk. During her almost 4 year working time at C.H. Erbslöh, Handan gained experience in many different departments, such as information systems, accounts, material planning, quality management, and especially in the sales area of purchasing and sales.
In her last job as purchasing and sales assistant, she was mainly responsible for the processing of orders as well as the customer care at home and abroad.

In summer 2012 Handan changed her working place to Innotaste GmbH, where she will work as a sales assistant.

Claudia Sila

Purchasing

Claudia Sila was born in 1979 in Sonneberg, is married and has three children.

After training as a wholesale and export trader, and subsequently studying Sinology, Economics and English Philology, she was employed as a Dispatcher at Quelle GmbH in Fürth. Thereafter, she was a Wholesale Buyer for Consumer Products in Düsseldorf for four years. In 2015, Claudia joined the TTI Group as a Supply Chain Analyst before becoming a Customer Supply Manager for Continental Europe in the Floor Care Equipment field, then a Demand Planner for Power Tools of the Milwaukee/AEG/Ryobi brands for the DACH countries (Germany/Austria/Switzerland).

Starting from December 2023, Claudia has been Purchasing Manager at Innotaste GmbH.

Oleg Skorikov

Purchasing

Oleg Skorikov was born in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, in 1996.

After obtaining his qualifications for admission to a technical college and attending Kaufmannsschule Krefeld (Vocational College of the City of Krefeld), he completed his training to become a wholesale and foreign trade merchant at the fine food wholesaler Bos Food. During this time, Oleg worked in several departments including Warehousing, Accounting and Purchasing.

After passing his exams and being hired by the company that trained him, Oleg initially worked in Internal Accounting for two years before switching over to Purchasing for an additional two years. Here he looked after national and international suppliers before assuming his position as Purchasing Manager at Innotaste GmbH in July 2022.

Ronja Steinstraßer

Customer Service

Ronja Steinstraßer was born in Krefeld in 1988. After completing her Fachabitur (vocational baccalaureate diploma), she enrolled in the Textile and Clothing Management degree programme at the Hochschule Niederrhein in Mönchengladbach.

As part of a work placement in the field of event management, she came into contact with an agency for visual marketing, AREA Management GmbH, and decided to train there as an office clerk. Over the course of two years, Ronja was active in the Personnel Management, Sales, and Route Planning departments.

After completing her training, she worked as a sales assistant for one year and gained particularly valuable experience in acquiring potential new customers at various trade fair visits. Most recently, Ronja spent four years serving as a project manager for several clients from Germany and abroad. In this role, her main tasks included project organisation, customer service and managing freelance employees.

Ronja Steinstraßer has been working as a sales assistant at Innotaste GmbH since June 2019.

Oliver Ulbrich

Sampling Manager

Oliver Ulbrich was born in Krefeld and trained as a chemical laboratory technician at Bayer AG in Uerdingen.

As a result of subsequently working in various pigment laboratories, he gained experience in quality assurance and improving production processes. After working at the German branch of a British design company for several years, he spent time abroad in Europe and further afield.

Oliver has been responsible for the sampling laboratory at Innotaste since May 2024.

Pratima Thapa

Sampling Manager

Pratima Thapa was born in 1987 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Food Technology at Purwanchal University of Nepal. She traveled from Nepal to Germany for further studies and pursued a Master’s degree in Water Science in 2017 at the University of Duisburg-Essen. From 2019 to 2021 Pratima worked at Eurofins (Friedrichsdorf) as a laboratory assistant where she was responsible for the chemical analysis of food and the documentation and evaluation of the results. In 2022 Pratima moved to Duisburg, Germany, got married, and had one daughter.

She has been working as a sampling manager at Innotaste since November 2024.