IFIF organization and history

IFIF is registered as a non-profit organization in Luxembourg and was founded on December 1, 1987.

Under its Articles of Association, held in Luxembourg, IFIF is managed by 
the Executive Director, Alexandra de Athayde, and overseen by 
an elected Chairman and Board drawn from the membership. Board Members serve two-year terms and are elected at the IFIF Annual Assembly. IFIF's Chairman for 2012-2013 is Mario Sergio Cutait, former President of FeedLatina, the Latin American Feed Industry Association. 

Experts from member companies 
and national associations actively participate in IFIF’s three expert and technical committees: Policy, Technology and Education. These committees cover the range of key issues for the feed industry, and the committee experts contribute to the development of global feed and food industry standards. Each committee is chaired by a member representative, and is coordinated by the Executive Director of IFIF.

Federation History

André Namur, the former Secretary General of the European Feed Industry Federation along with Danny Blankenship the European Director of the American Soybean Association developed the concept of an international organization representing the feed industry globally over a five-year period ending in the setting up of Articles of Association in Luxembourg in 1987.

André Namur was the organizations’ first secretary. He was best known for his ability to manage the political environment in which the feed industry operates in and he helped bring feed-related issues to the forefront of the European political agenda.

IFIF's first President from 1987-1996 was Brian Rutherford, past-President of the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA). IFIF's second President from 1996-2002 was Henk van de Bunt of Victam International.

IFIF’s third president was Fred Stephens, of Potash Corporation. Mr. Stephens served two terms from 2002 to 2008 and helped strengthen the relationship with global groups, including the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Dave Cieslak of Cargill Animal Nutrition was IFIF's chairman from 2008- 2011. Under his leadership the organization started to renew itself and he placed IFIF on a sound footing to start tackling the important issues facing the feed industry in the next decade. The development and introduction of IFIF's new Vision, Mission and Goals, the 3rd Global Feed and Food Congress in Cancun in 2010, as well as the continued success of the International Feed Regulators Meeting are just some of the accomplishments of Dr. Cieslak.

IFIF's current Chairman for 2012-2013 is Mario Sergio Cutait. Mr. Cutait, who previously served as Chairman of IFIF's Education Committee, has a deep understanding and experience of the opportunities and challenges of the international feed industry and was one of the creators of the important international conference series 'Global Feed & Food' in 2005 in conjunction with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and IFIF.