“We must strive for quality and excellence in all aspects, to truly make the difference”.
Tom Antens returned to Hazera on 1st July 2023 as Head of the Commercial Department. “Even though Hazera is a strong brand in many markets, there’s still a lot of room to grow and new markets to explore. I see a lot of potential”, said Tom.
Tom is 47 years old and lives in Baarle-Nassau, the Netherlands, with his wife and two children. He previously as Sales Manager for the Middle East, North-Africa and Oceania. He later joined HM Clause as Business Manager. “I was in charge of leading and structuring all business activities in Turkey, a fast-growing subsidiary, as well as the commercial activities in the Middle East and North-Africa”.
During the past four years, Tom has worked for HM Clause as Commercial Director for Turkey, Algeria, EMEA Export and Africa, overseeing sales for these high-growth markets. “In this period, I also fulfilled the role of board member of a joint venture that HM Clause had with Seed Co. in Africa. We worked to combine their established brand awareness on the continent and our products to cater for the rising needs of African growers for hybrid vegetable seeds.”
Team effort
Now, returning with significant experience, Tom is excited to be back at Hazera. “I’m looking forward to working with both new and familiar faces. My goal is to form a close-knit team and bring stability to the Commercial Department as I have done in previous roles. From there, we can explore new markets for our Hi tech and ToBRFV resistant tomatoes and strengthen existing ones, realizing our growth potential along the way.”
Strong potential
“I strongly believe that, within Hazera, we have the people, knowledge, ambition, and commitment to get the company to the place that I believe we can get to. In my opinion, Hazera has a big growth potential and I’m looking forward to taking on the challenge to achieve it with the team.”
Game changer
“The question I ask myself is: how do we make the difference?”. According to Tom, the answer is quality and reliability. “Hazera’s products are widely regarded to be innovative. But, to really understand why clients choose us, we must place them at the centre point; not just in the Commercial Department, but in all departments within Hazera. We can excel by listening carefully to our growers and translating their input in our innovations. By combining this with operational excellence, we can grow together and truly stand out from the competition.”