Alois Hofbauer appointed as new Regal Springs CEO

Alois Hofbauer has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the Regal Springs Group, which produces lake-grown premium tilapia in Indonesia, Honduras, and Mexico.

Hofbauer will replace Achim Eichenlaub, who will be leaving Regal Springs by the end of 2019, according to a company announcement made in June.

Most recently, Hofbauer served as CEO of the Almarai Group, a food and beverage manufacturing group based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While in that position, Hofbauer designed the company’s new business growth blueprint, which was used for the company’s expansion in the Middle East. He resigned from the company in June 2019 due to personal reasons, according to Gulf Business.

Before taking over at Almarai, Hofbauer was the CEO of for Nestlé Malaysia Bhd. from 2013 to November 2018, where he oversaw the company’s efforts in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. Previously, he had served as managing director for Nestlé Sri Lanka, and prior to that, managing director of Nestlé Taiwan. Originally from Austria, Hofbauer has a master’s degree in economics and business from the University of Innsbruck. After his graduation, he held senior roles in sales and product management in Austria from 1990 to 1995, followed by marketing roles in Hong Kong, and  managing of sales, business development, and brand management for companies in China from 1998 to 2004.

“I am delighted that Alois is taking up this important leadership role for us,”Regal Springs Chairman Markus Haefeli said in a press release. “He is a very experienced executive and brings with him the right blend of skills to continue our Regal Springs global strategy, commercial ambitions and will maintain our famous Regal Springs values.”

Regal Springs’ search for a new CEO was headed by Singapore-based executive search firm Heidrick & Struggle. Eichenlaub will aid Hofbauer in the transition through the remainder of 2019

“On behalf of the board and Regal Springs team, we want to thank Achim for his outstanding contribution to the Regals Springs Group and wish him all the best for the future,” Haefeli said. “In his three years with Regal Springs, Achim established our Singapore headquarters [and] shaped our transformation into a globally integrated commercially focused business that is now enjoying double-digit sales growth. And we now also have a solid new product pipeline to build more continued success.”

Photo courtesy of Regal Springs Group