Greenyard Foods officially shortened its name to Greenyard and announced the group’s first dividend payment during an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on September 16.
According to a statement made by the Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium-headquartered company, the name change makes for a “clearer and more powerful umbrella, covering all activities of the group,” which conducts business in the horticulture segment as well as the value-added frozen, canned and fresh vegetables and fruits sectors.
The board of directors approved distribution of a €0.20 per share dividend to stockholders, which represents a yield of 1.4% of the closing share price on September 16.
Meanwhile, Aalt Dijkhuizen was named non-executive and independent director during the meeting. The former University of Wageningen professor left academia in 1998 to become managing director of Agri Northern Europe and corporate director for food safety at Nutreco. From 2002-14 he was the president and chief executive officer of Wageningen University & Research Center. Since 2014 Dijkhuizen has served as the chairman of the Dutch Topsector Agri&Food.
Marc Wittemans was appointed non-executive and non-independent director. He started his career at the Belgian Farmer’s Association and became chief executive officer of the MRBB, the financial holding of the trade group, in 2008. Besides this role, he is a board member at KBC, Acerta and Agri Investment Fund.
Three resignations were announced at the meeting, each effective immediately, as follows: Ardiego BVBA, represented by Arthur Goethals; The Marble BVBA, represented by Luc Van Nevel; and Peter Maenhout.
