The Supervisory Board of Royal FloraHolland has appointed Pieter Bootsma (1969) to the Board of Directors of Royal FloraHolland in the new position of Chief Value Officer (CVO). From January 2024, the Board will also consist of Steven van Schilfgaarde (CEO) and David van Mechelen (CFO).
With the appointment of Pieter Bootsma, Royal FloraHolland gains a highly experienced and knowledgeable member of the Board. Bootsma has had a long career with the Air France-KLM Group. His most recent positions were Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Revenue Officer. He has also been a member of the Air France-KLM Group Executive Committee since 2013.
Jack Goossens, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said: 'I am delighted that Pieter Bootsma has chosen Royal FloraHolland. Pieter has a proven track record in a large and complex international organization. Based on a clear strategy, he has demonstrated his ability to improve results in a competitive and international market by developing interrelated services in a platform environment. Our digital platform, Floriday, combined with our physical hubs, offers numerous national and international opportunities for innovative digital services for growers and buyers. The role of the Chief Value Officer is, therefore, tailor-made for him. The CVO's focus will be on adding value to both existing and new services, in line with his track record".
Pieter Bootsma: "It will be clear that floriculture is very different from aviation. As far as I am concerned, this is exactly what is attractive about my new position. In addition, there are clear similarities between Royal FloraHolland's transformation into a digital platform organization and my years of experience in digitalization and internationalization at Air France-KLM. My knowledge of international growth and Royal FloraHolland's ambitions in this respect are also a good match. And I consider it a privilege to work in a sector in which the Netherlands is a world leader. I already have ideas, but first, I want to talk to colleagues, members, growers, and buyers about the opportunities and challenges they see. This is in line with the cooperative spirit that Royal FloraHolland stands for. Floriculture may be new to me, but I come from a farming family and, therefore, know the background and culture that is important in the sector. I think this will help me to have a good understanding of the sector and the people who work in it, and I look forward to using my knowledge and experience in this new role".
Steven van Schilfgaarde, CEO: "In Pieter, we have found the ideal candidate for the new role of Chief Value Officer. In order for the Netherlands to remain the hub of international floriculture, we need to attract more growers and buyers to our platform, both nationally and internationally. We want more growth in supply and demand with more members, more growers, and more buyers, and also with more integrated services. A combination of internationalization, digitalization, and commercial opportunities, and this is exactly what Pieter has experienced. That is why our Chief Commercial Officer Ruud Knorr and Chief Information Officer André van der Linden will work closely with Pieter and report directly to him. This will free up David and me to focus on the other elements of our cooperative and business strategy across our portfolios. We are confident that the addition of Pieter to our Board will, therefore, bear fruit, and we look forward to working with Pieter".
Pieter Bootsma will start as Chief Value Officer on January 15, 2024.
For more information:
Royal FloraHolland
www.royalfloraholland.com