If you say Nico van Vliet, you say new vegetable varieties. With decades of experience at breeders such as Syngenta and Bayer, you can safely call him experienced. Soon, he will close the door at Bayer behind him to focus on new assignments in the sector - a good time to take a look back at his career so far.
From dairy cattle to vegetable seeds
Nico was not immediately destined to work in vegetable seed breeding. The son of a dairy farmer from Lansingerland, he was preparing to take over the business, but back problems threw a spanner in the works. "This forced me to make the switch to a less physically strenuous job, which resulted in an international commercial career in a fantastic sector, which I look back on with pleasure."
After more than 16 years at multinational Syngenta, Nico spent two months at a family company, the well-known De Ruiter Seeds, and then spent more than 17 years at a multinational again due to the Monsanto takeover. "In doing so, it was never a dull moment. In retrospect, it turns out that my character is a great fit for a multinational because of the many opportunities you get to develop creatively, which minimizes the chance of 'tunnel vision'."
Nico with Mark Rutte
Rutte and The Lion
During his career, Nico has experienced a lot. "My career has allowed me to visit many countries and meet many people, with former Prime Minister Rutte in South Africa as the icing on the cake. Also funny was that, during my Syngenta time, I got to explain the flavor change of Brussels sprouts, thanks to breeding and cultivation methods, to Paul de Leeuw during a live TV broadcast."
Five-coloured pepper
One of the highlights professionally for Nico was turning a weak sweet pepper position at the turn of the century at his previous employer, "into a well-oiled sweet pepper machine with four colors at once. The Product Management and Sales team even drove with big 'Power Pepper' pepper stickers on the cars during the selling season just to generate out-of-the-box attention," he says.
"The following year we were commercially active in both red (Fascinato), green (Sopra), yellow (Fiero), Rubato (orange), and white (Blondy) with a significant market share. An additional consequence, however, was that the yellow De Ruiter variety Derby came under additional pressure, but it is fair to say that the following year this variety recovered."
Merlice in the limelight
Nico also contributed significantly to the improvement of tomatoes. "The perception of the Merlice variety in the beginning was that it would be an orange-colored, less flavourful bulk tomato. We managed to turn that into the world's most sustainable, affordable vine tomato for all income groups for use in hot meals and salads. Thanks to the tremendous teamwork of all colleagues, this led to this variety being one of De Ruiter/Monsanto/Bayer's moneymakers for an extended period of time."
Nico also refers to the "fantastic ambiance" at the De Ruiter Experience Center. "With that, Bayer was able to take the whole chain approach from grower to retailer/consumer to the next level."
This did not only concern tomatoes, by the way, but several crops from the Bayer portfolio, with the undisputed highlight being the winter melon week every year. During this week in December, chain partners were able to experience the year-round aspects of melons, focusing extensively on the Bayer melon range from South America and its customer satisfaction during the winter period in Western Europe.
Central was also the increase in consumption of vegetables in general, this was also shaped by the annual participation in the major European consumer fair 'De Grune Woche' in Berlin.
In his last position as Global Value Chain Lead, the focus was no longer only on retail, but increasingly on food service, as it is expected in the United States that by 2027 already 53% of consumption will take place through the various food service segments.
The seven Gs
In short, throughout his career, Nico has focused on identifying customer needs and then fulfilling them in different ways, depending on the position he was in at the time. From the five Ws in sales, the five Ps in marketing and the three Bs in Value Chain Management (B2B, B2C, and B2B2C), Nico is now moving to another letter of the alphabet.
"For the future, the eight Gs are on the menu: Health, Happiness, Faith, Family, Enjoyment, Garden Leave, Eager. The last G is definitely there, and so I am curious to see what comes my way, both privately and professionally. This I hope to discover in the coming months, during my garden leave."
Grateful for collaboration
Nico emphasizes that he owes all his successes to the fine cooperation with colleagues and customers. "In this sector, you are never alone. It is the joint effort that leads to growth, literally and figuratively. I am incredibly grateful to everyone for that."
With his experience, drive, and curiosity, Nico will undoubtedly remain an inspiration in the world of vegetable breeding. We wish him every success in this new chapter.
For more information:
Nico van Vliet
+31 (0)6 2303 4317
[email protected]