Declining profit margins and a mountain of debt have brought hard times on fruit and vegetable multinational, Greenyard. Its owner, Hein Deprez, wants to tackle these problems along with co-CEO, Marc Zwaaneveld. For the first time since Marc's appointment as co-CEO, the two men granted an interview to the Belgian newspaper, De Tijd.
Marc Zwaaneveld and Hein Deprez
Debt ratio
Zwaaneveld is full of praise for how Deprez has grown his business. What started as a mushroom farm became a multinational company. He is, however, critical of its acquisitions. "Due to its expansion, the company got into debt. Too much of it, to be honest. Now we are going to build the next phase."
According to Deprez, there are reasons why the company's debt ratio is as high as it is. It is a result of last summer's dry weather conditions and the listeria outbreak at one of the company's plants. "We did not lose any clients. Nevertheless, we did not tackle certain things well. We also took too little time when we wanted to take things forward."
CEO
According to both men, the banks did not appoint Marc as co-CEO. "One of our people contracted him. We, as a team, decided to approach Marc”, says Hein.
Deprez was asked whether he was prepared to hand over control of half the company's shares. He answered that the company's interests are paramount; as is the realization of the strategy.
