Hans Vet is to retire from Ahold next week after almost half a century with the Dutch food retail group.
Mr Vet is due to leave Ahold on 10 July after 46 years with Ahold, many of which have been spent in charge of fresh fruits and vegetables at Albert Heijn, the largest food retailer in the Netherlands, as well as at Ahold's international buying division ICASS.
'It has been a great pleasure for me to have worked with you and many others with a very high dedication to the fantastic fruit and vegetable business,' said Mr Vet in a letter he sent to suppliers earlier today. 'I have really enjoyed it and will never forget it.'
Gé Happe takes over from Mr Vet and will be assisted by Mart de Lange.
Mr Vet was an expert panellist at Eurofruit Magazine's Southern Hemisphere Congress in Cape Town in 2006. The discussion session is available as a podcast. To download , click here.
His comments were also reported in an Ahold blog.
