After ten years at the helm of the fruiting vegetable cooperative Growers United, Jan Opschoor will be leaving at the end of this year. Jan wants to focus on making growing profitable crops more sustainable and has chosen a new direction as director of Business Development & Sustainability at Van Iperen. “I am following my heart in doing this; it really suits me. I will be staying close to the growers and will be able to help tackle a significant challenge for their businesses. But I will very much miss my colleagues at Growers United and working with its members,” he says.
The Board of Growers United is sad to see Jan Opschoor go. Cooperative chairman Jack Groenewegen: “Our organisation owes a lot to Jan. It is a shame he is leaving. Of course, we congratulate him on his new job, which suits him well. As director, Jan has always been very close to our members. And to his colleagues, too – he is a real connector. That has taken us a long way. Under his leadership, Growers United has grown into one of the largest fruiting vegetable cooperatives in the Netherlands. In addition, in recent years he has worked hard to boost the development of crop sustainability in the Dutch Federation of Fruiting Vegetable Associations (Federatie Vruchtgroente Organisaties, or FVO) and in several other industry-wide organisations.”
Ten years ago, as director Jan helped sow the seeds of the brand new cooperative – under the name DOOR at the time – which was responsible for the sales, marketing and quality of Prominent tomatoes, Purple Pride aubergines, Green Diamond cucumbers, SweetPoint pointed peppers and PapriCo blocky peppers. In those days, fruiting vegetables were still sorted and packed at five different locations. These brands came under one roof in 2020, and the name was changed to the Growers United Cooperative. Over the past ten years the organisation, together with its enterprising members, has experienced enormous growth and now has 200 employees and three small packing sites in De Lier, Zwaagdijk and Maasdijk. Jan Opschoor: “Ideally, I would never leave the people and the mission of Growers United. But my time as director is up. I now have the opportunity to contribute to one of the biggest challenges we face as an agricultural sector: growing sustainably and profitably. I will be working on the balance between food security, sustainability and strong horticultural businesses – not only in greenhouse horticulture but also in outdoor cropping systems. Both nationally and internationally.”
The Board will soon announce who will succeed Jan as managing director of Growers United.
