Press release 

Naaldwijk, 11 January 2022

Richard Vialle succeeds Theo Sanders on the Hortivation board

Theo Sanders has stepped down as a Hortivation board member. He is succeeded by Richard Vialle, founder and CCO of Kind Technologies. Besides being one of the co-founders of Hortivation, Sanders had been a board member since 2015 and was also president of the foundation from 2015 to 2019. On 1 January, he left his role as managing director of Alcomij after 18 years of service.

Sanders has been of great significance for Hortivation, according to Martin Steentjes (president of Hortivation and CTO of Van der Hoeven): “Right from the start, Theo passionately worked to support the very essence of our foundation – safeguarding our sector’s intellectual property and driving new innovation. He has helped to ensure that there is a professional organization to represent not only the individual member companies, but also the whole sector. Stimulating innovation remains a major focus of our foundation to this day.”

Richard Vialle from Kind Technologies has succeeded Theo Sanders on the Hortivation board. “At Kind Technologies, we are keen to play a part in the horticultural sector’s further development, and especially in innovation within the sector,” states Vialle, who is also a board member of the leading greenhouse technology industry association, AVAG. “Within both AVAG and Hortivation, I specifically represent the companies that are active in the field of data-driven growing, robotics and AI, and those that are focused on technology for the entire value chain – from seeds to consumer packaged goods.”

As president of Hortivation, Steentjes adds: “There is a very broad spectrum of innovation in the greenhouse technology sector nowadays. Digitalization and robotics will remain the key trends in the future, not least because of the role software plays both in greenhouse maintenance and climate control. We are therefore delighted that Richard Vialle has joined the Hortivation board. His knowledge and experience will be a valuable addition, plus his involvement will further strengthen our ties with AVAG.”

About Hortivation
In addition to combining strengths related to knowledge management and innovation within the greenhouse technology sector, the foundation also develops expertise and policy for this industry in the area of integrated growing systems.