News Potatoes
Dairy boss Hans Huistra starts as new CEO HZPC
Hans Huistra has taken over the reins from Gerard Backx as CEO of seed potato company HZPC with immediate effect. Huistra is a well-known name in the dairy world, but he also gained considerable experience on the supervisory board at Cosun. Backx has been employed at the Frisian company for almost a quarter of a century and is now stepping down.
Starting today, September 2, Huistra can start working in his hometown of Joure. The 56-year-old Frisian has been active as a manager for over thirty years at various companies. In addition to Unilever and Hero, he has worked mainly at dairy companies such as FrieslandCampina and Fonterra. Huistra served on the supervisory board of the cooperative Cosun for seven years.
His international expertise is valuable to HZPC. He has worked in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa for his job. Earlier this year, HZPC announced that Huistra would succeed Backx. At that time, he was still working as COO at cultured meat company Meatable.
Backx will retire at the end of this year
Earlier this year, it was announced that Gerard Backx would retire as CEO and would step down sometime this year. Now, he is resigning from his position immediately, although he will remain involved in the background for the next two months. He has worked for the cooperative for 23 years.
