Emerald Kalama Chemical Appoints Hogan Vice President and General Manager for Benzoates and Intermed

Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials, appointed Paul Hogan as vice president and general manager for the organization’s benzoates and intermediates (B&I) business. In this role, Hogan will be responsible for the strategic direction and all commercial and operational aspects of the business globally.

Hogan has more than 20 years of experience in the chemicals industry. Prior to joining Emerald, Hogan served in a variety of strategic development and functional roles for Solvay, most recently as senior vice president and general manager for Solvay’s peroxides business in North America. He also previously held roles with DuPont Performance Elastomers and Elementis Chromium. Hogan earned a bachelor of science with honors in chemistry from the University of Abertay, Scotland, and an MBA in marketing management from the University of Durham, United Kingdom.

“Paul has led multi-functional teams in successfully identifying and capitalizing on new business opportunities—globally and across a number of industries that align with the benzoates and intermediates business,” said Ed Gotch, CEO of Emerald Kalama Chemical. “We have tripled in size since 2006 and plan to double in size again over the next 10 years. As we grow and demand in key segments climbs, Paul’s experience will make him a valuable asset and help the organization meet its objectives.”

Emerald Kalama Chemical is a leading global producer of benzaldehyde and benzoic acid, which are also used to produce Kalama® and Purox® benzyl alcohol and benzoate salts, which comprise the core of the company’s B&I business. While benzoic acid occurs naturally in free and combined forms in plums, cinnamon, cloves and berries, Emerald synthetically produces a high-purity form at its operations in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Kalama, Wash., U.S. Last year, Emerald announced the latest expansion project for its benzoates and intermediates business—a $40M dollar investment to increase capacity for Purox® benzoic acid and Kalama® benzaldehyde at the Rotterdam site.

Among other applications, Kalama and Purox benzoates are used as non-paraben, non-formaldehyde-donating preservatives and antimicrobials in foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care and cosmetics, where they are valued for their safety and efficacy in controlling microbial growth, in addition to their low odor, excellent taste profiles and ability to reduce caking and maintain high color stability.

Kalama benzoates are also utilized in many important industrial applications and processes. Technical grades are used as key starting ingredients to produce a wide array of other important chemicals, such as alkyd resins for paints and coatings and many esters used in the fragrance industry. Kalama sodium benzoate is also used as an economical, highly effective nucleating agent to reduce the temperatures at which polypropylene can be removed from molds, improving manufacturing efficiency.

The company has been producing benzoic acid at its ISO-certified operations in Rotterdam and Kalama for more than 50 years. Emerald Kalama Chemical’s portfolio of benzoic acid products is FDA-approved and GRAS-classified. Certain offerings are also certified to meet or exceed a number of important quality standards, including FSSC22000 and FamiQS, as well as Kosher and Halal.