CHASKA, MINN. — QualiTech LLC has named Rick Pedersen as chief executive officer. Pedersen succeeds Mike Hodgens, who was CEO and president for the company for three years.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rick to QualiTech,” said Steven Loeffler, managing director at MidOcean Partners, a middle-market private equity firm and majority owner of QualiTech. “Rick’s extensive experience in the ingredients sector, combined with his deep understanding of consumer preferences, market trends and the innovation process make him the ideal fit to propel QualiTech through its next phase of growth. Under Rick’s leadership, we believe QualiTech will be able to further leverage its robust ingredient portfolio and leading position across its core end markets to capitalize on existing opportunities and expand into adjacent products to reach both new and existing customers.”

Pedersen was formerly president of Ornua Ingredients North America. Before his time with Ornua, he was president and CEO for Agrana Fruit North America. Previously, he was chief financial officer, finance director Americas for Fonterra for two years. He has also held leadership positions at Nestle and Novartis Consumer Health.

He received his bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

QualiTech provides ingredient solutions for food, animal nutrition and agronomy customers.