The Supervisory Board supervises the Executive Board of HZPC. Chairman of the SB, Meerten Ubbens looks back over the 2019/2020 financial year.

“The Supervisory Board is tasked with maintaining supervision and advising the Executive Board. This involves setting and realising company strategy, policy and targets. The SB also has the role of employer and sets the remuneration levels for the Executive Board. In HZPC Holding the Supervisory Board is a separate body operating fully independently of the Executive Board. Members of the Supervisory Board are appointed by the Shareholder; i.e. Association HZPC.”

“When I look back, I can see that HZPC has realised a good operating result. It is a great shame that we had to process massive write-offs for the unsuccessful ERP implementation (information and management system). Despite this, I would like to use this opportunity to thank the Executive Board and all the employees for their hard work, particularly over the past six months as they have been especially challenging.”

“The corona crisis required a global focus and this has been true for HZPC for the last few months of this year too. The crisis has not had a huge impact on the results of this financial year because, by March, most of the seed potatoes had already been sold. We were also able to supply our customers with the sold seed potatoes in April and May. So, as a company, we can continue with the plans.”

“The potential impact of the corona crisis in the long term is hard to predict. Many people and businesses faced huge challenges and uncertainty at the start of the pandemic; that came as a complete shock and may lead to reduced investments. We expect the demand for food to stay stable in the long term, thanks to the ever-growing global population. For HZPC, there is no major disruption from the business perspective but it is possible that the corona crisis may lead to reduced results in the coming financial year. Luckily, HZPC is well financed and the business can cope with the odd setback.

“An important focus area was the implementation of a new ERP system. Last October, the Executive Team decided to bring the implementation to a halt as the risk for the company, and in particular for the growers so close to the actual season, was just too great. The corresponding follow-up was a focus area during various meetings and we ultimately decided to recognize all of the costs of this project in the result for this year, which is in line with the accounting principles. The net result has thus reduced to 1,2 million. We regret this outcome but have to take the loss. This course of action means that we are not carrying any losses into the future. We realise that this is not great news for our shareholder and have therefore decided to pay the usual two-thirds as dividend. We consequently end up with a dividend of EUR 1.00 which equates to a dividend return of 0.76% per share.”

"Over the last financial year, work took place on a programme designed to improve the commitment of HZPC’s growers. As the Supervisory Board, we will monitor this Connecting Growers Programme with interest. We believe it is important to connect growers to HZPC and, in turn, expand their commitment by means of certificates in the company. This commitment is primarily gained by offering a good price but holding share certificates can make the bond even stronger. We are curious as to whether this method achieves the goal.”

“Many of HZPC’s investments are made for the long term and do not deliver any immediate profits. Examples include investments in new markets such as India and the development of hybrid varieties; developments which will have a huge impact in the long term. Now is the time to spend money in these areas. It is part of our capacity as a sounding board to ask critical questions in relation to major investments and, if necessary, to apply the brakes and make checks. In this context, the refinancing of our Joint Venture (Mahindra-HZPC) in India was often a topic for the agenda this year.”

“HZPC has an enthusiastic, animated Executive Team with which we have a great relationship. Communication is very open and is based on trust. The Executive Team attended the meetings of the Supervisory Board eight times this year. Association HZPC owns the shares of HZPC Holding. In collaboration with the Board of Association HZPC, the Supervisory Board held a general meeting of shareholders three times this year.”

“Risk management is also a recurring topic in the meetings of the Board and the Supervisory Board. We recently discussed the topic at length in order to ensure that HZPC can define a risk profile that is as robust and measurable as possible."

“In the past financial year, Wigle Sinnema stood down due to having completed the maximum term. We would like to sincerely thank him for his work over the past eight years, during which he has applied his enthusiasm to ensure that the growers’ voices were heard at this level. The Supervisory Board is delighted to appoint Ms Martine Hommes-Gesink from Lauwerij to succeed Wigle Sinnema. Martine Hommes-Gesink was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors at the general meeting of shareholders in May 2020."

Joure 1 October 2020

On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board

Meerten Ubbens, chairman