Interflour Group appoints new Chairman

25 March 2020

The CBH Group is pleased to announce that Luke Bugeja has been appointed Chairman of the Interflour Group Board following the retirement of Imre Mencshelyi. 

Mr Mencshelyi retired from the Interflour Group Board in December 2019. He was appointed Chairman in 2005 following the forming of Interflour in a joint venture between CBH and Origold. CBH and Origold each hold a 50 per cent interest in the Group. 

Under his chairmanship, Interflour has gone from a total daily milling capacity of 4,200 tonnes per day across six flour mills to a Group that now has milling capacity of 7,410 tonnes per day across 10 mills, the largest dedicated grain terminal in south Vietnam as well as a malt plant with a daily malting capacity of 360 tonnes per day.

CBH Chairman Wally Newman thanked Mr Mencshelyi for his service and leadership during his 14 years at Interflour.

“Since Interflour was established in 2005, the business has grown significantly, diversified into malt production with the launch of Intermalt in Vietnam, and extended its service and product offerings for customers,” Mr Newman said.

“Imre’s leadership assisted the Interflour management team during the early period of change as well as in responding to the more recent heightening of competitive pressures in flour milling in Asia.
“While Interflour continues to operate in a highly competitive environment, efficiency and sales initiatives have resulted in improved performance, particularly from the core South East Asian flour business as well as at their Vietnamese port asset and the Intermalt facility. 

“On behalf of Interflour’s shareholders, I sincerely thank Imre for his contribution, we wish him every success in his future endeavours.”

Mr Bugeja has held investment and operational roles spanning both investment management in infrastructure and aviation over the past 31 years including roles with Qantas Airways, Virgin Blue, Macquarie Bank, Ontario Airports Investments and Changi Airport Group. He is currently an Operating Partner at Hermes GPE and serves as a non-executive director on a number of portfolio companies.

Mr Bugeja is based in Singapore and holds an MBA from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.
“I look forward to working with the Interflour Group Board and management as we continue implementing our strategy to generate greater value for our shareholders,” Mr Bugeja said.