Member Profile: Scott Dorr brings Asian market experience to SSGA, ZFS

With decades of experience both working and living in Asian countries such as China and Japan, Scott Dorr was the perfect candidate to take over as the new international sales and marketing manager for the Michigan-based Zeeland Farm Services (ZFS) earlier in 2025. Even without experience in the world of soybeans, Dorr’s understanding of the Asian culture, its quality preferences and emphasis on relationships put him high on the list as the eventual replacement for recently retired SSGA Director Darwin Rader. 

“In December I took over Darwin’s position and we’ve been transitioning ever since, but I won’t let him retire fully,” Dorr said, jokingly. “This is my first venture with soybeans and Darwin knows so much about that industry, so he’s been a great help.” 

A native of Iowa, Dorr majored in Asian studies and international marketing at the University of Iowa before leaving the country to live and study in Japan for the next three years. He then returned back home where he spent the next few decades working with Asian countries in the dairy ingredient and animal protein industry. But after spending several months of the year on the road, Dorr decided it was time to spend more time with his family in their now home of Colorado. Taking advantage of the local access to antlers, Scott and his wife started their own pet products company selling hundreds of thousands of antler chews across the country each year. Working with farmers and industry in Nepal, they eventually began importing yak chews to their lineup of products as well.  

“We ran that business as sort of a second-chance company, hiring a lot of gang members who were trying to change their lives and purchasing antlers off Indian reservations and then supporting small farmers in Nepal with the yak chews,” Dorr said.  

With his kids out of the house and in college, Dorr’s interest returned to getting back on the road and back working in Asian countries, which is what brought him to his current role with ZFS. Founded by the Meeuwsen family in 1950, ZFS is a multigenerational family-owned and operated business working in the agricultural commodities and transportation industry.  

“It’s a very dynamic company with over 600 employees,” Dorr said, “and I’m very impressed to see a company get to its third and fourth generation and be as well run as it is.” 

Dorr’s focus with ZFS is managing their non-GMO soybean line and growing their market in that industry, using his experience to build relationships with customers in the Asian markets, who are the primary purchasers of non-GMO soybeans.   

“It’s especially important in countries like Japan that you maintain the highest quality possible and that you’re as reliable of a supplier as you can be,” Dorr said. “If you can sell to Japan with their high standards, you can sell to anywhere in the world.” 

But it’s not just Japan that has strict quality needs and regulations. Dorr notes that European markets have their own set of unique regulations that challenges American non-GMO producers to focus on sustainability and supporting the environment.  

“With the deforestation going on in Brazil, Europe is putting a lot of regulations in place to have an impact on that, but those same regulations apply to the U.S.as well, even though we haven’t seen deforestation in years,” he said. “So that means a lot more documentation, auditing and certification requirements for us to export into the European market.” 

And just like his predecessor, Dorr says he is looking forward to working alongside SSGA to make more connections to break into new markets.

“I know Darwin was very involved with SSGA and thought very highly of the organization,” he said, “so I know how important they are, and I look forward to working with them and their staff down the road.”