Hein started out in 1983 with a small mushroom farm. In 1987, he founded Univeg, which later became Greenyard Fresh. It was the foundation on which he built one of the largest fruit and vegetables companies in the world, with a unique offering in fresh produce, frozen and prepared products, and growing media. In the beginning of 2018, Hein currently focuses on his role as Executive Director of the Board of Directors. In this role, and as Founder, he continues to oversee, build and drive the long-term vision and strategic direction of Greenyard.
Mr Koen Hoffman obtained a Master in Applied Economics and an MBA at Vlerick Business School. Between 1992 and July 2016, he was active at KBC Group in which he started his career in the corporate finance department and later became the CEO of KBC Securities as from October 2012. Since August 2016, he is the CEO of Value Square asset management. Mr Koen Hoffman serves also as board member at Fagron (Chairman) and MDxHealth (Chairman).
Mr. Gert Bervoets holds a Master of Commercial Engineer. Between 1994 and 2002, he worked at Nestlé as Group Product Manager. In 2002 he started at H. Essers as General Manager Warehousing. H. Essers is a Belgian logistics organization, providing integrated solutions for sustainable transport and logistics across Europe, and acting as a long-term supply chain partner for clients in various industries. He is CEO of H. Essers since March 2013.
Mr Aalt Dijkhuizen has obtained his Ph.D. in Animal Health Economics and holds a Master in Agricultural Economics. He was Managing Director of the Agri Northern-Europe Business Group of Nutreco. Between 2002 and 2014, he served as President and CEO of Wageningen University and Research. Since 2014, he is President of the Dutch Topsector Agri & Food. He serves as board member at several companies, is co-director of the Holland Center in China, Chairman of the Food & Beverage Innovation Forum in Shanghai and high-level expert to the European Commission in Brussels. Mr Aalt Dijkhuizen was awarded Honorary Citizen of Fujian Province in 2008 and Commander in the Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands in 2014. Mr. Aalt Dijkhuizen does not hold any board memberships in other listed companies.
Mr Dirk Van Vlaenderen holds a Master in Applied Economics. He has been partner of Arthur Andersen since 1993 and member of the audit management committee and Managing Partner at Deloitte from 2002 until 2016. He served a wide variety of national and international companies as statutory auditor. He was also lecturer at the Universities of Brussels and Leuven for Basics of IFRS and Reporting in International Context. He serves as board member at other companies, including at two listed companies IEP Invest NV and Accentis SA.
Ms Veerle Deprez started her early career with Alcatel Bell in 1980. In 1987, together with her brother, Mr Hein Deprez, she laid the foundations of Univeg, which would later become the Greenyard Fresh segment. Ms Veerle Deprez serves also as board member at listed company Tessenderlo Group, as well as at various companies belonging to the Group, the Nova Natie group and De Weide Blik group.
Ms Valentine Deprez holds a Master of Arts in Art History from the Catholic University of Leuven, went to Vlerick Business School and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Hospitality from the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland. Being born in the founding family, she has been involved with the business from a very early stage. Besides her mandate as director, she is active as an executive coach.
Mr Marc Ooms was General Partner of the Petercam group, a Benelux Investment Bank, and Chairman of Petercam Bank Nederland until 2011. Today, he is a private equity investor and board member of several companies like Sea-Invest Corporation, BMT Group, Baltisse and Universal Partners.
Ms Els Degroote holds a Master of Commercial Engineer, and an MBA Financial Management and an MBA High Potential Banking & Insurance from the Vlerick Business School. Between 2000 and 2016, she worked at KBC Securities, where she was Executive Director Corporate Finance until 2012, in which position she led a deal team on several and large transactions. In 2012 she became Head of Corporate Finance of KBC Securities. In the period 2016 until March 2022, she was M&A Partner in Strategy & Transactions, and Brussels Regional Managing Partner at EY. She was responsible for M&A in the Belgian market with focus on (international) private equity firms and larger corporates. In this function, she also advised Greenyard on several projects. As from April 2022 she is appointed Investment Principal at Alychlo NV, an investment company founded and owned by Mr. Marc Coucke, with investments in multiple listed and non-listed companies. Both Alychlo NV and its permanent representative Ms. Els Degroote serve as a board member of several private companies.
