Guillaume Bastiaens, vice chairman, Cargill, Minneapolis, and member, Cargill board of directors, retired this month after 41 years of service with the company. He began his career with Cargill in 1967 as a refinery supervisor in Amsterdam.

Neal Bassi joined Manildra Group USA, Shawnee Mission, Kan., as vice president, sales. Previously, Bassi was director of sales for the wheat gluten and starch division at ADM for five years. He also held the position of product manager for the specialty foods division, at ADM.

Gary Schmidt was appointed vice president, operations, Caravan Ingredients, Lenexa, Kan. Schmidt succeeds John Kalal, who was named vice president, Supply Chain Bakery Supplies North America for CSM, Caravan Ingredients' parent company. In addition, Caravan appointed two account executives to the specialty ingredients division: Lisa Zylkowski and James Anderson.

Chef Jerome Landrieu is serving as technical advisor at Barry Callebaut's Chocolate Academy, which opened in Chicago this month. Landrieu comes to Barry Callebaut after working in pastry shops and restaurants in Paris, where he studied under three chefs who earned the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France title. He will teach diverse chocolate applications and processing techniques to artisans and culinary professionals, including pastry chefs and bakers.