November 6, 2023 at 6:26 am
Sustainability
CEO Engelsman awarded at Eosta’s farewell
ZEIST Mayor Koos Janssen traveled to Waddinxveen on Friday to pin the decorations of a royal decoration on fellow local Volkert Engelsman at Eosta’s headquarters. He retired as CEO of that company and was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Volkert Engelsman has been committed to organic agriculture and trade for 33 years, in the Netherlands and far beyond. He has drawn attention to the importance of organic farming for health, biodiversity and fair trade. Under his leadership, Eosta grew into one of the largest players in the European market in the field of fresh organic fruit and vegetables. Eosta developed, among other things, a system that offers consumers online information about the origin of products in the store. Engelsman is committed to fair prices in which the actual costs of products are passed on: for example, also the environmental damage caused when making them. “Profit that comes at the expense of people and the planet is not real profit,” Engelsman said after receiving the award. “Then the social costs are passed on to the taxpayer.” He does not intend to sit still after his retirement from Eosta. “I am involved in a coalition of 50 companies, 30 organizations and 10 academic institutions that are committed to achieving the new economic normal, in which all costs are included in the business results. With a group of frontrunners we can storm forward and we are already doing that. The key word here is cooperation: doing it together.”
His farewell as CEO was a moment to “reflect on what has been achieved.” I am grateful for this award, it really touched me. When we started Eosta thirty years ago we were at the beginning, now everything is moving three times as fast.” He is optimistic: “I see movement towards the new normal on all fronts. This story is gaining more and more resonance.”
