Western Seed today announced that Alois G. van Vliet has been named Managing Director of the Western Seed Group, effective August 1. This business grouping includes Western Seed España S.A. -Western Seed 2000, S.L. – Uniseed S.L. - Western Seed Maroc S.A.R.L. - Western Seed Middle East S.A.R.L. - Western Seed Italia J.V.C. S.R.L. - Western Seed International B.V. - Western Seed Americas, Inc. - Western Seed Argentina, S.A. - Western Seed Co. Mexico S.A. de C.V. and Western Seed Mexico S.A. de C.V.

Western Seed is one of the most rapidly growing seed companies in Europe. Van Vliet, 37, succeeds Ambrosio Hernández Cabrera, who will continue to serve the Group as the newly elected Chairman of the Board. Concurrent with van Vliet’s appointment, Naaldwijk, Holland, will become headquarters of the Western Seed Group. The current headquarters is Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain.

“Alois has a unique combination of product development and marketing knowledge, along with a strong understanding of the global vegetable seed and produce industries”, said Hernández Cabrera, one of the founders of Western Seed. “Our business has solid fundamentals, broad and deep talent, strong performance, and promising growth prospects. Alois and his team will build on this foundation as they lead the Western Seed Group to its next level of growth.” Hernandez said that having Naaldwijk as the business headquarters will enable Western Seed to be closer to its core customer base of vegetable growers and fresh produce suppliers, many of whom are located on the Continent. Naaldwijk also serves as the Group’s Research Center for high-performance vegetable seed used in greenhouse operations, it is the primary location of the company’s plant genetics research and development programs, and is closer to its biotech labs, which are based in Wageningen.

Van Vliet is currently General Manager - Western Seed, a position he assumed in September 1999. He joined the company in 1992 and has held a variety of sales, marketing and management positions. He led the development of Western Seed’s e-business and as head of the “Vision 2000” Task Force he initiated a critical strategic repositioning of the Group. Van Vliet has a Business Administration degree in agricultural economy & administration from the Royal Dutch Agriculture College of Delft.

Western Seed is a plant technology company. The idea for Western Seed first surfaced in the late 80’s when two successful tomato breeders began discussing the need for greater productivity and quality at the production level. One year later, the company was incorporated and the focus of its research set on enhancing the quality of fresh tomatoes. Since then, Western Seed has gained a worldwide reputation for its efficient, market-driven research, generating a wide variety of products. Leading the parade is the internationally acclaimed “on-the-vine” tomato Durinta. Other popular varieties include Romana, Santalina, Habana, Zapata, Mundi, Reconquista, Dunkan and Durtyl. Expanding product lines in fresh market & processing cucumbers and specialty peppers are capturing significant market shares throughout the world. Western Seed researchers are consistently exploring the company’s vast genetic resources to create new products that will make a grower’s life easier and more profitable.

Western Seed is headquartered in a new, custom-designed building in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands. This 15,000 square meter building houses the research laboratory, administration offices and state-of-the-art greenhouse facilities, all devoted to study and improve the effectiveness of vegetable production in greenhouses. Another 14-hectare plant breeding complex in Almeria, Spain is dedicated to develop superior seed varieties that are specifically suitable for open or covered field (shade cloth or poly covering) production. Also a brand new Marketing & Sales offices have been opened in Murcia, Spain and Guadalajara, Mexico. Additional field research stations are strategically located in Europe, North Africa, North America, Mexico and Thailand. This network of research and experimental facilities give Western Seed the capacity to accelerate the pace of product development and address a broad and varied range of problems to meet the future demands of the marketplace.