Peter Vriends, Global General Manager, to be
Responsible for Core Business including SmartFresh™, Harvista ™ and
other Post-Harvest Opportunities;
Bill Lucas Joins AgroFresh as Vice President of
Global Marketing to Oversee New Business Development
Initiatives
AgroFresh (NASDAQ: AGFS), a global leader in produce freshness
solutions, today announced transformational changes to its
organizational structure and executive leadership team to support
the Company’s strategic growth and diversification objectives. The
new organizational structure will improve focus and accountability
for attaining its goals and objectives in both existing and new
markets. In addition, the Company is also deepening and broadening
its management talent.
Jordi Ferre, Chief Executive Officer, said, “AgroFresh is
committed to furthering its leadership position in food quality
preservation and waste prevention. Today I am announcing a series
of changes I believe will help us achieve our goal of growing our
franchise in this dynamic segment through a stronger leadership
team and a more focused growth and diversification strategy. These
changes will improve the Company’s customer focus, spur innovation
and reduce time to market for new products, enabling the company to
better capitalize on its extensive patent portfolio and
industry-leading position. I am confident our new organization is
better designed to unlock AgroFresh’s full potential to create
value for our shareholders.”
At the heart of the new organization is the aim to consolidate
the Company’s core business units under a global leader while
bringing in dynamic new leadership to spur the Company’s new
business development activities. Each area will have specific
growth objectives and profit and loss accountability. The company
also announced appointments of the executives who will lead these
newly aligned organizations, each of whom will report directly to
Ferre.
Core Post Harvest
Business
The Company’s core Post Harvest Business includes the AgroFresh
base SmartFresh™ business as well as the current Harvista™ sales
and other product lines that reinforce the Company’s leadership
position in the Post-Harvest market, where it currently has 3,000
direct customers and a presence in over 40 global markets. Peter
Vriends has been promoted to Vice President, Global General Manager
of this organization, and will be responsible for its profit and
loss performance. As part of this transition, a newly formed
post-harvest team will manage marketing activities, continuing to
expand the SmartFresh brand into an unparalleled service offering
that ensures produce quality from seed to table. This team also has
a mandate to expand the Company’s various post-harvest products
into a broader range of fruit crops around the world.
New Business Development
Focus
Bill Lucas joins AgroFresh as Vice President of Global Marketing
and Business Development, with global responsibility for the
Company’s new business development and diversification initiatives.
Bill will be responsible for the company’s expansion into the
retail market with RipeLock™ plus other future offerings, as well
as pre-harvest business development, including the growth of
LandSpring™ and the launch of legacy pre-harvest technologies
beyond their core fruit applications and into additional crops.
Lucas’ team will also be responsible for commercialization of new
products/technologies and have independent profit and loss
responsibility. This team will also focus on developing marketing
and launch plans for any new technologies AgroFresh may acquire or
develop in partnerships with others.
Jordi Ferre, CEO of AgroFresh, continued, “During his career at
AgroFresh, Peter Vriends has exhibited the ability to build and
grow a global industry leader. I am confident Peter will
effectively leverage our extensive portfolio of intellectual
property, including 1,000 global patent cases, and other assets to
create additional growth opportunities as the leader of our core
businesses. I am also pleased to welcome Bill Lucas to lead our new
business development initiatives with additional responsibility for
our global marketing efforts. Bill has an enviable record of
building successful organizations, including 20 years of experience
in consumer marketing and retail sales at leading consumer brands
such as Kraft Foods, Lexmark International and Newell Brands. One
of our strategies for growth and diversification is to use our
strong, in-depth knowledge of agri-business to establish a presence
in the retail and consumer space, directly or through third-party
partnerships. Bill’s consumer and retail management experience will
prove extremely valuable in helping manage this process. I look
forward to working with both Peter and Bill.”
Ferre summarized, “I am truly excited to be leading AgroFresh at
this very dynamic time in our business and the industry. I believe
these changes will achieve our objective and provide us with the
right resources, tools and talent to leverage our market-leading
position and solidify AgroFresh as the uncontested global leader in
the food quality preservation and waste reduction space. AgroFresh
has a bright future and we have an energized team that is ready and
anxious to build and strengthen our franchise.”
About AgroFresh
AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGFS) is a global
horticultural produce industry leader, providing a portfolio of
innovative products and specialty services to maintain the
freshness, quality and value of fresh produce and flowers. Its core
products include SmartFresh™, the proven post-harvest freshness
protection technology for produce; Harvista™, the advanced
pre-harvest technology for apples and pears; RipeLock™, the
innovative post-harvest quality system for bananas; and
LandSpring™, an innovative pre-planting transplant shock reduction
application for tomatoes and peppers. AgroFresh currently operates
commercially in more than 40 countries and employs more than 170
people worldwide. For more information, visit
www.AgroFresh.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this release may contain
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe
harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, included in this release that
address activities, events or developments that the Company expects
or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking
statements and are identified with, but not limited to, words such
as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “plan”,
“outlook”, and “project” and other similar expressions (or the
negative versions of such words or expressions). Forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, information concerning the
Company’s possible or assumed future results of operations,
including all statements regarding anticipated future growth,
adoption of the Company’s products, business strategies,
competitive position, industry environment, potential growth
opportunities and the effects of regulation. These statements are
based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as
a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of
which are outside the Company’s management’s control that could
cause actual results to differ materially from the results
discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks include,
without limitation, the risk of increased competition; the ability
of the business to grow and manage growth profitably; changes in
applicable laws or regulations, and the possibility that the
Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business,
and/or competitive factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are
identified and discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC,
which are available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
™Trademark of AgroFresh Inc. ©2016 AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. All
rights reserved.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170123005980/en/
AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.Investor RelationsKatherine Harper,
1-267-317-9025Kharper@AgroFresh.com
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