OUR STAFF
Everyone at Aalst Chocolate is driven by a desire to challenge themselves and reconnect every day with their love for chocolate.
Learn from them what drives them, inspires them and motivates them to always give the best of themselves for the company, their clients and themselves.
Tham Ngo Hock
VP Sales & Business Development
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Tham Ngo Hock, and I’ve been working for more than 25 years in Sales & Marketing and Business Development. I take great pride in building strong relationships with my customers, which has allowed me to build an extensive network of close contacts with manufacturers and distributors of both food and non-food products.
I enjoy travelling, having done so for both business and pleasure to more than 50 countries throughout Africa, the MENA region, Asia-Pacific, South Asia, CIS and Europe. I try to always keep my mind open and approach both life and work with a positive attitude. This might explain why a lot of people tell me that I have a flair for interacting with people & establishing good rapport with clients.
What do you do at Aalst Chocolate?
I am the Vice President of Business Development/Sales, and I’ve been with the company for close to 10 years.
My responsibilities are rather varied, from sales generation, business/product development and opening new markets, to managing our distribution channel and customer relationships. One additional function I really enjoy is mentoring staff and helping new professionals achieve their own career development in the company.
What do you enjoy most about working at Aalst Chocolate?
There is so much to do and so many things I enjoy. Aalst Chocolate gives me the opportunity to really challenge myself, whether it’s in helping to enter new markets or develop new products, through to providing mentoring and guidance to our team.
At the end of the day we’re only as successful as our whole team is, and it’s been a joy to both witness and contribute to the growth of our company and seeing so many customers and buyers telling us how much they appreciate our products. That’s one of the best parts of the job, to be a part of this great team and see our work have a real impact.
Efigenio Mangubat
Production Manager
Tell us about yourself.
I've been in the food manufacturing industry for over 20 years. People know me as a very organised person, probably because of my background in engineering. I like getting as involved as possible with the technical side of things as much as the strategic. It satisfies my love of technology.
What do you do at Aalst Chocolate?
I joined Aalst Chocolate in July 2012 as a Production Manager. Today I’m responsible for the efficient operations of the following departments: Production, Engineering & Maintenance and QC/ QA. I’m also the management Representative responsible for the performance of the Integrated Management System of the company (Quality Management System, HACCP, Food Safety and FSSC) which pretty much means that I’m always busy.
What do you enjoy most working at Aalst Chocolate?
I enjoy most working with the people at my job; the teamwork that must be put in by all employees to get the job done, and of course the creativity of problem solving in such a dynamic manufacturing environment. I like both the responsibility and the sense of accomplishment that gives me. There is always a lot to do, and I can always look forward to facing different challenges each day and interacting with meeting my bosses, fellow HODs, my team and all the line workers.
Sherin Tan
HR & Admin Manager
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Sherin Tan and I’ve been with Aalst Chocolate since 2008 when I was appointed the HR & Admin Manager of the company.
What do you do at Aalst Chocolate?
As an HR & Admin Manager, I oversee the effectiveness of HR policies and implement HR processes and systems to meet local guidelines and industry standards. This involves developing sound compensation and benefits systems to achieve external competitiveness and internal equity, as well as promote a healthy and cohesive working environment. In addition, I engage in manpower planning and jointly resolving any people-related issues throughout our business divisions, as well as implement a talent management pipeline help develop all our staff.
I strongly believe that employees are the biggest asset to any company, and Aalst Chocolate is a great example of that, which is why I work hard to foster a culture of employee engagement to reinforce our values. This of course ends up helping the company achieve our business strategies and encourages continuous growth and improvement. So I like to think of myself as the link between the employees and the company, providing a clear line of communication to ensure we all work with the integrity, confidentiality and professionalism we deserve.
What do you enjoy most about working at Aalst Chocolate?
Joining a pioneering company like Aalst Chocolate is one of the greatest challenge of my HR career. This is a very fast moving company with a dynamic staff that has so much passion for what we do, so to keep ahead of it all I need to be making sure I’m constantly involved in almost every aspect of the business, from producing statistics, to keeping an eye on our financial status and making sure there is the proper management buy-in to keep us all focused. It’s a great exposure and a real challenge, but I like to think that through my work I’ve been able to help transform my role from that of a traditional human resource manager to that of a person with a real overview of the entire business in Aalst Chocolate.