Meet The Team

Family owned business

FluidChristeyns is a family owned business with a long history in hygiene. We began trading as Applied Chemicals NZ and became a licensed manufacturer and distributor in 1999. Applied Chemicals NZ was established in 1985 with John Anderson at the helm who ran the business successfully for 14 years together with his wife Marcia. They purchased the company in 1999 and became established as Applied Chemicals NZ, a licensed manufacturer and distributor of Applied Chemicals Australia’s products.

The company rebranded in 2017 to become Fluid Chemicals NZ at which time John and Marcia’s three children Mark, Kristen and Ben took over the mantle and ownership of the business together with their partners.   Both Ben and Kristen work within the business and Mark is very closely involved as a Director.

A new partnership was formed with family owned, multi-national Belgium based company Christeyns in April 2023.  This partnership is part of the company’s strategic plans to increase their share of the cleaning and hygiene market. As well as focusing on detergents and disinfectants, the new JV means FluidChristeyns can also provide services and sell the equipment developed by Christeyns' R&D and engineering departments. With our local and global technical expertise, we understand better than anyone the many challenges our customers face including legal and environmental requirements, quality and productivity standards and the need to innovate.  By joining a team of over 500 process and application specialists, FluidChristeyns can make a difference and help our customers increase their turnover and sustainability.


Family photo taken a few years ago at John & Marcia's 50th Wedding Anniversary celebrations.
Ben Anderson from Fluid Chemicals NZ

Ben Anderson - General Manager

Ben began working for the family business 12 years ago as Sales Manager after working as a Technical Sales Representative for Summit Quinphos NZ. With a degree in Applied Science (honours) from Massey University, Ben particularly enjoys working in the field alongside customers, using his technical background and skills to make recommendations and solve problems. He loves the fact that every day in the job is different owing to the variety of customers he deals with and thrives on providing first class service to customers that understand the difference FluidChristeyns can provide.

Kristen de Monchy from Fluid Chemicals NZ

Kristen de Monchy

Kristen currently supports Ben in managing the business and works together with the wider team on Health & Safety, Marketing and Human Resources. She has a degree in Science from the University of Auckland and has worked in medical communications, magazine publishing and magazine distribution. Additionally she has held roles as chair of community groups including PTA of the local school, a community group in the Netherlands and is a board member of Allergy NZ.

Gerhard Coetzer from Fluid Chemicals NZ

Gerhard Coetzer - Technical Account Manager (Laundry Specialist)

Gerhard joined FluidChristeyns over 5 years ago after emigrating from South Africa where he worked in the chemical manufacturing industry for 14 years. He owned his own chemical manufacturing business for 3 years before moving to New Zealand. Gerhard specialized in laundry chemical set ups for hospitality and hospitals all over Africa including in Lesotho, Botswana, DRC, Sierra Leone and Namibia. He also lived and worked in the USA for a year. Gerhard is a keen fisherman and loves hunting, the outdoors and travelling. Gerhard studied Civil Engineering and Agricultural Management at the University of Technology Free State South Africa. After finishing Universityi he started farming on one of the family farms which has around 500 hectares with beef cattle and mixed crops. He loves a good challenge and is technically minded. One of his favourite quotes is “I have done so much with so little for so long, that I am now highly qualified to do anything with nothing”.

Layne Shepherd from Fluid Chemicals NZ

Layne Shepherd - National Key Account Manager

Layne has been part of the Fluid team for over 4 years, having previously been a distributor for FluidChristeyns for over 8 years as co-owner of Counties Cleaning Supplies. Layne has worked in the industry for over 15 years. Layne has BCom & BPhEd degrees form Otago University and has formerly worked in the finance industry for ASB & ANZ Banks in the SME sector. He is very customer-centric and likes to form strong working relationships with all stakeholders.

Layne’s ‘claim to fame’ is being one of only a handful of fullbacks in world rugby to tackle the famous Jonah Lomu, back in his 1st XV days. Whilst his rugby playing days are long behind him, Layne is still actively involved in the sport, currently on the committee of his local club and still coaches his son’s team. Layne also enjoys playing golf & squash and is a current board member of Squash Auckland.