Corporate Leadership
Aaron Buettner
Aaron Buettner
Aaron joined PureField from Bunge Global SA where he was most recently President of Bunge’s Food Solutions business. Prior to his time at Bunge, Aaron spent nearly two decades at Cargill in a variety of commercial leadership roles, including assignments in Russia and China.
Aaron is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and with a degree in Accounting. In addition, he holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He lives in St. Louis, Mo. with his wife and has three children.
Walter Tabaschek
Walter Tabaschek
Walter is a proven finance and operations executive, experienced in leading financial strategy and execution, with a track record of optimizing global businesses to peak levels of performance. His career has been focused on driving strategic growth for multinational companies in the agribusiness, financial markets, and manufacturing sectors. Walter has finance experience with Cargill and Bunge but also spent a number of years in Private Equity.
Walter earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accounting from the Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Argentina.
Cyril Koniski
Cyril Koniski
Cyril joined Purefield from McKinsey & Company, where he spent 10 years working within the enterprise transformation practice serving clients in the industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Cyril holds a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.Eng. in Manufacturing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
Steve Ellis
Steve Ellis
Steve is a proven operations and supply chain leader who thrives on optimizing plant operations and coaching teams to success. Prior to joining PureField Ingredients, Steve was the Vice President of Operations at Puris Proteins. There, he led the next phase of growth for the company, including the buildout and staffing for their greenfield plant in Minnesota. Steve spent 26 years with Cargill in various leadership positions including oversight of 26 manufacturing locations for wheat flour, oat products, bakery mixes and specialty bread baking.
Steve graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Milling Science and Management.
Bruce Fitzpatrick
Bruce Fitzpatrick
Before joining PureField, Bruce served as Human Resources Director at Hostess Brands. He also spent nearly 15 years at Corbion, holding various HR leadership roles with both domestic and global responsibilities.
Bruce holds a degree in Spanish Education from the University of Kansas. He resides in the Kansas City metro area with his wife and is a proud father of five.
Monte Johnson
Monte Johnson
Monte adds value to the PureField team with knowledge of the agricultural and commodities industries. He has experience in operations, merchandising, and management. Most recently, Monte served as the Commercial Business Manager at Perdue Agribusiness, where he led a team responsible for commodity trading in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. Monte led a merchandising office and managed crush plant procurement and byproduct sales. Prior to his time at Purdue, Monte spent thirteen years with Archer-Daniels-Midland where he held various procurement roles in Tennessee, Texas, and Kansas.
Monte has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Kansas State University. In his free time, Monte enjoys learning about regenerative farming practices.
Breck Babbs
Breck Babbs
Before joining PureField, Breck spent nearly 12 years at ADM in commercial leadership roles, most recently serving as Sales Manager for Milling & Baking Solutions. He led facility supply chain initiatives and managed customer direct sales across both the human and pet food sectors.
Breck holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business and Management from the University of Missouri–Columbia. He resides in the Kansas City area with his two young sons and their two energetic golden retrievers, and enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and making memories with his family.
Board of Directors
Mark Zurcher
Mark Zurcher
Mark has over 25 years of successful operating leadership experience in the Consumer/Private Equity space.
Mark has had numerous successful CEO & Board roles resulting in company growth transformations.
Adrian Isman
Adrian Isman
Adrian has over 35 years of global leadership experience in the agriculture and commodities industry.
He has held numerous executive and board roles, including CEO and Chief Growth Officer of Calosense Inc. and CEO North America Region for Louis Dreyfus Company, where he led business growth across multiple regions and platforms.
Andy Muller
Andy Muller
Andy has over 30 years of leadership experience in the global food ingredients industry and currently serves as Food Ingredients President of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF).
Andy has held numerous executive roles resulting in business growth and innovation across multiple markets and product categories.
Goran Puljic
Goran Puljic
Goran has over 30 years of leadership experience in finance, renewable energy, and sustainability.
Goran has held numerous investment and advisory roles, resulting in growth and innovation across the financial and green energy sectors.
Food Ingredients
Doug Funk
Doug Funk
Doug is a Kansas native who has been working at the food ingredients facility in Russell for more than 20 years. As manager, he plays an integral role in ensuring that PureField Ingredients produces safe, reliable and high-quality gluten for distribution to consumer food and pet food manufacturers.
Biofuels
Mike Ernst
Mike Ernst
A Kansas native, Mike has been working at the ethanol facility since it began operation. He literally helped build the plant and has managed its operations for more than a decade. Under his leadership, ethanol production has steadily increased to more than 50 million gallons a year.