The directorship of the Dutch Coöperatieve Tuinbouwveiling Zaltbommel en Omstreken B.A. will change hands in early 2022. Gerard van den Anker will succeed the current director Bart Dijkhuis. He is retiring. Van den Anker is looking forward to his new position. "I want to optimize this cooperative further. I will do so with passion and commitment, along with its employees, members, and customers," he says.
The current director, Bart Dijkhuis, took over from Peter van Osch in 2020. Van den Anker has a strong affinity with horticulture. He presently chairs the Netherlands Fruit Growers Organization (NFO). And he has remained a fruit grower throughout his administrative and political career. This future director has held various positions over the years. Like being a local alderman in the Dutch city of Maasdriel. He was also its deputy mayor and was even a member of the Dutch Lower House for a brief time.
Dijkhuis is pleased with the choice. 'Van den Anker's experience suites Veiling Zaltbommel's needs very well. He knows the horticultural sector, and it knows him. Also, he was born and raised in this region. So, he's at home here. I have every confidence that he will fit in well here. The auction house is in good hands," he says.
Chairman René Simons shares this view: "We're a cooperative in the original sense of the word - an auction by and for growers. That suits a man who is counted as such. He must speak their language and have a cooperative spirit. Gerard van den Anker is such a man."
Van den Anker is looking forward to this new challenge. "Veiling Zaltbommel runs like a thread through my life. I look forward to working with [the employees, members, and clients.] And with the Board. We must meet the challenges these times bring. At this unique central location in the Netherlands."
NFO
The NFO Board has congratulated Gerard van den Anker on this appointment. But it regrets that, after four years, he is leaving the NFO. The board would have liked to see Gerard stay on as chairman for another four years. They will soon begin looking for a new chairperson.
For more information
Veiling Zaltbommel
Website: www.veiling-zaltbommel.nl