Ruud Knorr leaves Royal FloraHolland

After four years as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and member of the Management Team of Royal FloraHolland, Ruud Knorr has decided to leave the organisation on 1 April 2024. His responsibilities will be taken over by Chief Value Officer Pieter Bootsma.

Ruud Knorr: "Over the past four years, we have taken historic steps in the cooperative. The transition from 'one size fits all' to targeted member packages, for example, is one of my personal milestones. Royal FloraHolland has also started to work in a more progressive way, thinking about service innovation, working with segmented customer platforms, introducing central auctions and working in a customer-centric way. I have been active in floriculture for more than thirty years, and with this experience I dare say that Royal FloraHolland is ready for the next phase. Our Royal FloraHolland platform plays a crucial role in this: with services via our digital platform Floriday and services via our logistics platform. With his knowledge and experience of the platform, Pieter is the right man to continue to shape our growth ambitions. This is the right time for me to take the next step in my career. I am taking my time to decide what I want to do next. In addition to my team, close colleagues and especially MT Royal FloraHolland, I would like to thank our customers, members, growers and partners in the chain for the wonderful cooperation and trust."

Pieter Bootsma: "I am of course grateful to Ruud for everything he has brought to Royal FloraHolland. Ruud has introduced me in a unique way to the sector, the members and the buyers, the opportunities and the dilemmas. I look forward to the next phase, adding value to new and existing services on the Royal FloraHolland platform and making trading easier for our customers. My focus will therefore be on increasing the network effect with international growth in supply and demand. By integrating with the CCO function, I will be close to our customers and on the ball. Ruud brought a lot of knowledge about floriculture, his knowledge and experience will be missed, but fortunately is well secured within the commercial team."

CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde: "Ruud told me last summer that he has ambitions outside Royal FloraHolland. I have respect for that choice. Where we are now is partly due to his contribution, for example as initiator of the customer platforms based on data-driven customer segmentation. In the MT, Ruud has been the voice of the customer and has secured this knowledge and expertise more widely in the organisation than was previously the case. I would like to thank Ruud for his important contribution as head of the commercial team and as a member of the MT and wish him every success in his future career."