Rachel Leong, New Business Development Lead – Emerging Markets

The only way is to meet our customers where they are, and to listen.

Rachel Leong got to know the cornfields of the American Midwest while earning dual degrees in chemical engineering and economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When she returned to her home country of Singapore to join IFF’s Asia-Pacific Grain Processing group, she spent a decade serving regional Grain Processing customers through different roles from marketing to project management and sales.

A key highlight? Combining her deep local knowledge with IFF’s global resources, Rachel created the XCELIS® Ethanol Performance Program, which sent her team to producers throughout the region to conduct baseline assessments, identify opportunities for improvement, and create paths for their development.

Rachel shares her biggest learning that set the foundation for her approach to new business development today. “Customer pain points may sound broadly similar, yet there are so many important nuances to consider in applying our solutions to properly address each customer’s needs. The only way is to meet our customers where they are, and to listen.”

While US and India ethanol producers seek higher ethanol and oil yield, for example, each calls for a different solution given vastly different conditions—from the quality and price of corn to the process intensity. All that must be factored into the choice of enzyme system to complement their existing baseline, maximize yield and maintain profitability. 

The world needs more low-carbon, low chemical use, and water-efficient solutions that enhance the value of all output streams, and to cut waste.

This passion for complex problem solving eventually led Rachel to new business development, where she dives into challenges beyond ethanol and carbohydrate processing. “The world needs more low-carbon, low chemical use, and water-efficient solutions that enhance the value of all output streams, and to cut waste,” she explains. “As biocatalysts, enzymes are key, especially in agriculture processing. That’s why I’m exploring ways to apply our biotechnology products and know-how into new white spaces across the agriculture value chain.”

But enzymes are just part of the puzzle. Rachel’s driven to innovate for a better tomorrow with other like-minded co-workers and partners. Expanding on why she prizes collaboration with trusted partners, she says, “We need a systems approach across a plant’s full process, and across the value chain from raw material to final product.”

From a customer with production know-how to an engineering company with process design expertise, Rachel strongly believes that each partner brings a different expertise to the table. “Close collaboration is the only way we can collectively reach a truly optimal, practical solution,” she concludes.