On June 1, Syngenta Flowers appointed Edwin Zuidgeest as Head of Sales for the Netherlands and Belgium. Edwin brings vast grower and horticultural experience that will support the company’s endeavor to serve growers with a value proposition that considers their challenges and ambition. After being a grower himself from early 2000, Edwin spent the last 15 years of his career at Royal Flora Holland (RFH), a flower auction company where he worked closely with growers. In his new role with Syngenta Flowers, he will lead the Dutch and Belgium sales team and work in close collaboration with the company’s retail account management team.
Edwin and Olivier
Being the son of a grower and a grower of vegetables and flower plants himself, Edwin has a long history in horticulture. He understands the industry challenges and the importance of keeping up with market developments. “What I learned at RFH is to help growers in managing a good business,” says Edwin. “Together with a team of people at RFH, we offered them an important service by helping them, among other things, further professionalize and convert the needs from the market into opportunities for their businesses. The market is changing rapidly, lines are getting shorter, developments must be anticipated more quickly, and there is consolidation among growers and their customers. Companies are becoming more specialized, and automation is becoming increasingly important in order to be able to respond quickly to changes.”
Behind all these developments, Edwin sees great opportunities in the market: “With Syngenta Flowers’ strong genetics, we can support growers through industry growth that will take place in the coming years. Only together will we be able to make that extra step”.
Syngenta Flowers’ Head of Sales for Europe, Olivier Clisson, is very pleased and proud to welcome Edwin on board. “Our goal is to bring a fit-for-purpose offer in terms of products and services. One of the main challenges is that there is not really one European market, but a sum of markets with their own particularities in terms of genetics, color mixes, product forms and so on. This is particularly the case for the Dutch and Belgium market, which includes highly specialized growers as well as a strong wholesale and retail influence, making it quite unique. The addition of Edwin supports bringing the right knowledge in retail and platforms to our business, which is really the missing link between the grower and retail chain, underlining our willingness to serve our customers in the best possible way.”
Syngenta Flowers