Agrico has announced that operations manager Mark Zuidhof will be appointed COO at the emmeloord-based potato cooperative on september 16. From then on, he will form the statutory management of the company together with the current director Jan van Hoogen. Eventually, he was elected to succeed the CEO. The cooperative has announced that Van Hoogen will step down as director with effect from 1 January 2024. From that moment on, Zuidhof will have taken over all his duties completely and, like his predecessor, will work as a one-headed manager.
Agrico has deliberately opted for a temporary adjustment of the management structure in order to enable a ‘warm transfer’ of tasks, powers and responsibilities, according to a press release. According to Adrie Vermeulen, chairman of the Supervisory Board, the cooperative strives for a careful process without time pressure when transferring. “This does justice to the nature, size and complexity of the company and its holdings,” he says. According to him, Agrico also has an important position in the potato industry, both nationally and internationally. “Jan van Hoogen has always been great at that. That position must of course be maintained in the event of a change of management. That is why we are very pleased that we have a suitable internal candidate who can work carefully through a transition period. This ensures the continuity of the company,” says Vermeulen. Mark Zuidhof will take over more and more functions from Jan van Hoogen in the course of the time that they form the management board together. Van Hoogen has been working for the cooperative since 1989, of which more than 10 years as CEO. “After his resignation as Statutory Director, he will remain attached to Agrico as an advisor for a few more months as of 1 January 2024 to perform a number of jobs for the cooperative, but these are separate from the management,” Vermeulen describes the course of the transfer.
Honor and challenge
Van Hoogen says he is pleased with the way in which the transfer is designed. “As everyone who knows me knows, I am connected with Agrico with heart and soul. I am very happy that the company is doing well, partly thanks to the commitment of the employees. I think it is time to make way for a successor and I am pleased that with Mark, with whom I have already worked intensively and pleasantly, we have a good internal candidate,” he said. According to Zuidhof, it is both an honor and a challenge to succeed Van Hoogen. “He is a household name in our industry. I will do everything in my power to advance the position of our company. Of course, I already know Agrico well from my current position, I feel very involved in the cooperation and I consider myself lucky that I still have the time to absorb the knowledge and experiences of Jan. I look forward to that collaboration.”
A source: https://www.aardappelwereld.nl/
