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AgroFresh Realigns Commercial and Marketing Teams to Drive Growth and Support Diversification Strategy

January 23, 2017 4:01 PM EST

Peter Vriends, Global General Manager, to be Responsible for Core Business including SmartFresh, Harvista and other Post-Harvest Opportunities;

Bill Lucas Joins AgroFresh as Vice President of Global Marketing to Oversee New Business Development Initiatives

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AgroFresh (NASDAQ: AGFS), a global leader in produce freshness solutions, today announced transformational changes to its organizational structure and executive leadership team to support the Company’s strategic growth and diversification objectives. The new organizational structure will improve focus and accountability for attaining its goals and objectives in both existing and new markets. In addition, the Company is also deepening and broadening its management talent.

Jordi Ferre, Chief Executive Officer, said, “AgroFresh is committed to furthering its leadership position in food quality preservation and waste prevention. Today I am announcing a series of changes I believe will help us achieve our goal of growing our franchise in this dynamic segment through a stronger leadership team and a more focused growth and diversification strategy. These changes will improve the Company’s customer focus, spur innovation and reduce time to market for new products, enabling the company to better capitalize on its extensive patent portfolio and industry-leading position. I am confident our new organization is better designed to unlock AgroFresh’s full potential to create value for our shareholders.”

At the heart of the new organization is the aim to consolidate the Company’s core business units under a global leader while bringing in dynamic new leadership to spur the Company’s new business development activities. Each area will have specific growth objectives and profit and loss accountability. The company also announced appointments of the executives who will lead these newly aligned organizations, each of whom will report directly to Ferre.

Core Post Harvest Business

The Company’s core Post Harvest Business includes the AgroFresh base SmartFresh™ business as well as the current Harvista™ sales and other product lines that reinforce the Company’s leadership position in the Post-Harvest market, where it currently has 3,000 direct customers and a presence in over 40 global markets. Peter Vriends has been promoted to Vice President, Global General Manager of this organization, and will be responsible for its profit and loss performance. As part of this transition, a newly formed post-harvest team will manage marketing activities, continuing to expand the SmartFresh brand into an unparalleled service offering that ensures produce quality from seed to table. This team also has a mandate to expand the Company’s various post-harvest products into a broader range of fruit crops around the world.

New Business Development Focus

Bill Lucas joins AgroFresh as Vice President of Global Marketing and Business Development, with global responsibility for the Company’s new business development and diversification initiatives. Bill will be responsible for the company’s expansion into the retail market with RipeLock™ plus other future offerings, as well as pre-harvest business development, including the growth of LandSpring™ and the launch of legacy pre-harvest technologies beyond their core fruit applications and into additional crops. Lucas’ team will also be responsible for commercialization of new products/technologies and have independent profit and loss responsibility. This team will also focus on developing marketing and launch plans for any new technologies AgroFresh may acquire or develop in partnerships with others.

Jordi Ferre, CEO of AgroFresh, continued, “During his career at AgroFresh, Peter Vriends has exhibited the ability to build and grow a global industry leader. I am confident Peter will effectively leverage our extensive portfolio of intellectual property, including 1,000 global patent cases, and other assets to create additional growth opportunities as the leader of our core businesses. I am also pleased to welcome Bill Lucas to lead our new business development initiatives with additional responsibility for our global marketing efforts. Bill has an enviable record of building successful organizations, including 20 years of experience in consumer marketing and retail sales at leading consumer brands such as Kraft Foods, Lexmark International and Newell Brands. One of our strategies for growth and diversification is to use our strong, in-depth knowledge of agri-business to establish a presence in the retail and consumer space, directly or through third-party partnerships. Bill’s consumer and retail management experience will prove extremely valuable in helping manage this process. I look forward to working with both Peter and Bill.”

Ferre summarized, “I am truly excited to be leading AgroFresh at this very dynamic time in our business and the industry. I believe these changes will achieve our objective and provide us with the right resources, tools and talent to leverage our market-leading position and solidify AgroFresh as the uncontested global leader in the food quality preservation and waste reduction space. AgroFresh has a bright future and we have an energized team that is ready and anxious to build and strengthen our franchise.”

About AgroFresh

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGFS) is a global horticultural produce industry leader, providing a portfolio of innovative products and specialty services to maintain the freshness, quality and value of fresh produce and flowers. Its core products include SmartFresh™, the proven post-harvest freshness protection technology for produce; Harvista™, the advanced pre-harvest technology for apples and pears; RipeLock™, the innovative post-harvest quality system for bananas; and LandSpring™, an innovative pre-planting transplant shock reduction application for tomatoes and peppers. AgroFresh currently operates commercially in more than 40 countries and employs more than 170 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.AgroFresh.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements and are identified with, but not limited to, words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “plan”, “outlook”, and “project” and other similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions). Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, information concerning the Company’s possible or assumed future results of operations, including all statements regarding anticipated future growth, adoption of the Company’s products, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities and the effects of regulation. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the Company’s management’s control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, without limitation, the risk of increased competition; the ability of the business to grow and manage growth profitably; changes in applicable laws or regulations, and the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

™Trademark of AgroFresh Inc. ©2016 AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.
Investor Relations
Katherine Harper, 1-267-317-9025
[email protected]

Source: AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.



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