Enza Zaden, an independent vegetable seed breeding company, announces that Piet Mazereeuw, who has been with the company for nearly 47 years, will lay down his operational responsibilitise as Managing Director on January 1, 2006. He will officially withdraw as Managing Director at the annual general meeting of the shareholders on April 26, 2006.

At that date, it will be proposed that Piet Mazereeuw join the non-executive board and be appointed its chairman. In addition to this position, Piet will remain active in various other non-executive and advisory functions within the Enza Group and related companies.

Roland Peerenboom (photo) will succed Piet Mazereeuw as Managing Director of Enza Zaden, taking over his operational duties on January 1, 2006. This appointment will be officially approved at the April 26, 2006 meeting.

The shareholders and the advisory board have a lot of confidence in the new executive team, which consists of:

• Roland Peerenboom as Managing and Commercial Director,
• Vincent van Bentum as Director of Seed Operations, and
• Joep Lambalk as Director of Research and Development.

This team will continue on the successful road to growth and expansion of the Enza Zaden Group.

Enza Zaden is an independent vegetable seed breeding company with its head office in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands.  Enza Zaden has breeding in more than 18 species, the main ones being tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper and leafy vegetables.  The company has research and development facilities in Holland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Australia, the United States and through a joint venture in Indonesia. The company's commercial offices are in England, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and the United States.  Enza Zaden is also involved in the development and marketing of organic vegetable seeds through their joint venture company Vitalis. Enza Zaden employs more than 500 employees worldwide.