Tropical vegetable seed specialist East-West Seed has appointed Ard Groot as its new chairman of the supervisory Board (SB), a position he first took up on 1 January 2018.
He succeeds his father and company founder Simon Groot, who will continue to serve the board as honorary chairman and founder.
“I’m greatly inspired to take up this role, with the support of our members of the supervisory board (SB), our dynamic and forward-looking board of management (BOM), dedicated managers and all our 5,000 professional and hard-working staff around the world,” said Ard Groot.
“I am happy to build on the legacy that my father Simon worked so persistently to create,' he added. 'We have come a long way in the last 35 years. Since our humble beginnings, we have established strong and mature companies in many countries. Innovation leading to improved vegetable crops with better yield and quality is now fully accepted and appreciated by farmers.”
Founder Simon Groot emphasised the company’s long-term vision to serve smallholder farmers in the tropics. “It gives me a sense of pride to pass on the leadership of the board into the new generation, ensuring that East-West Seed remains an independent, privately owned and most importantly, farmer-centric company. I am convinced that this is the best way to sustain our long-term vision. Serving farmers has always been, and will always be the driver of East-West Seed.”
