Steven Martina is set to leave his post as CEO of Dutch fruit producer The Greenery and join kiwifruit major Zespri International.
Having worked for The Greenery for over 19 years, with eight as chief executive, Martina will leave the company at the end of August and immediately start at New Zealand-based Zespri at the beginning of September. Martina will join Zespri as director for Europe and North America.
Martina has already been a member of Zespri’s sustainability advisory board since it was established in 2022.
In a statement, The Greenery said Martina decided to leave due to “his pursuit of organisational impact and personal growth”.
Martina said that it took “much consideration” and, “with deep respect” for his growers and colleagues, he decided to continue his career outside The Greenery.
“I am extremely grateful for the many opportunities I have been given to further develop the company, the employees and myself.
“I am proud of where The Greenery is now. It is good that the organisation continues under new leadership. I have every confidence that the management team, together with the growers and employees, will continue the course they have taken to realise the ambitions together,” he added.
Niels Zuurbier, chairman of The Greenery’s supervisory board, said: “In his career at The Greenery, during which Steven progressed through various commercial management positions to the role of CEO and director of cooperative The Greenery, Steven has achieved many milestones and made an important contribution to the development of our organisation over the past two decades.
“We are very grateful to Steven for his commitment to our organisation, growers and customers. We grant him this step and wish him all the success in his further career.”
Zespri reported its fiscal 2022/23 results last month and reported global operating revenue of NZ$4.22bn ($2.60bn). The company returned a net profit after tax of NZ$237.8m.
Meanwhile, The Greenery has not publicly released any financial results since 2018, when the group marked net revenue of €991.9m (then $1.16bn) and EBITDA of €4.5m. The Dutch group however made an operating loss of €7.7m that year.
