Nuritas Appoints Former Unilever North America President Kees Kruythoff as Board Chair

Nuritas, a biotech company specializing in the discovery of bioactive peptides, appointed Kees Kruythoff as chair of its board of directors. Kruythoff was formerly a member of Unilever’s executive committee, and is joining the company during what it reports is a pivotal time.

Kruythoff brings nearly three decades of international leadership experience at Unilever, where he built and led businesses ranging from 200 million euros to 12 billion euros in revenue. His roles included president of Unilever North America, president of the company’s global home care division, and CEO of its businesses in Brazil and South Africa. He has operated across Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S., with extensive experience scaling innovation through global consumer brands and commercial partnerships.

Nuritas develops clinically-backed peptide ingredients through a proprietary discovery platform which analyzes nature-based, non-synthetic proteins to identify high-impact peptides that target human health outcomes.

“I believe Nuritas has a unique opportunity to impact billions of people’s health and wellbeing, as it brings together nature-based ingredients with world-class AI peptide discovery. I am honored and excited to be part of this journey,” said Kruythoff.

“Kees brings global scale, operating discipline and a genuine passion for food transformation to our Board,” said Nora Khaldi, PhD, founder and CEO of Nuritas. “His experience building markets and embedding health and sustainability within global consumer businesses makes him exactly the right partner for Nuritas at this time. I’m delighted to welcome him to the team.”

Kruythoff will work closely with Khaldi and the executive leadership team, providing strategic guidance as the company deepens relationships with global partners, expands the commercial reach of its peptide portfolio and strengthens its position at the intersection of AI, biotechnology and human health.