Meet the team: Sales manager Thomas Felske

We meet our colleague Thomas Felske. In his position as Sales Manager Southeast Asia and Pacific, he is responsible to represent the Nutrifeed brand and for the sales of our products in this region. In this interview he tells us more about his work and what is so great about working at Nutrifeed.

How did you end up at Nutrifeed?
“I saw an advertisement on LinkedIn. It sounded a lot like what I had been doing for the last 6 years: working in animal nutrition, for a European leader in the field, posted in Asia, selling through a network of distributors in the region etc. I was interested so I got in touch. After several online interviews and an assessment, which apparently turned out to everyone’s satisfaction, I started the job last September.”

What is your role?
“I’m  responsible for the sales of our products in the region Southeast Asia and Pacific. All our sales are done through local distributors. We are currently represented in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines, in this region. I have recently also taken over responsibility for Pakistan and New Zealand, and will be exploring opportunities in other markets in the region.’’

We are curious about your previous work experience and how you end up in Asia. Your name doesn’t sound very Asian?

“I’m German, which probably explains the un-Asian name. But I’ve been involved with Asia one way or another for more than 30 years now. I studied International Management and Asian Studies in Germany, China and the US, before taking on my first job in Hongkong. I’ve lived and worked in China for 6 years, Singapore for 6 years, and for the last 7 years have made Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) my second home. Throughout my career I’ve worked for different family-owned businesses and made the switch to animal nutrition to work for Lohmann Animal Health (LAH) and Miavit, before I started at Nutrifeed.”

What do you like the best about your job?
“Definitely the interaction with people of different backgrounds. In my last job, and pre-Covid, I used to spend more days travelling and working with the distributors in the region than I spent at home in Malaysia. The pandemic has put a stop to all that, as practically all countries in Asia have imposed strict immigration rules or even outright closed their borders. Although I’ve learned to get a lot more done through online collaboration than I ever thought possible, I do miss the actual physical meetings with our customers.”

What is the biggest challenge in your work?
“Right now, it’s the high and still increasing prices that we have to charge customers, and that I have to communicate them.”

What do you like most about working at Nutrifeed?
“What I like about working at Nutrifeed is the pleasant working atmosphere, partly because of my colleagues. I was and still am very impressed with the help and support I’ve been given as a newcomer, and I’d like to take the opportunity here to thank you all for this. You all have made my start at Nutrifeed / Denkavit a whole lot easier.”

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