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Ard Groot comes from seven generations of seedsmen who formed the foundations of the Dutch seed industry in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands. His father, Simon Groot, founded East-West Seed in 1982. Today it is one of the leading tropical vegetable companies in the world, playing an important role in the development and improvement of tropical vegetable varieties and increasing the income and knowledge of smallholder farmers.

Ard joined East-West Seed as vice chairman of East-West Seed’s supervisory board in 2012 following a 20-year professional legal career outside the company. He represents the second generation of the founder and majority owner family, dividing his time between the group's Asian operations and his Dutch home base. Besides his role as a non-executive director, Ard leads a variety of projects and tasks in the company in support of the executive team, building on experience gained through his legal and financial background. 

Ard is a Dutch national and holds an LLM degree in tax law from Leiden University. Together with a delegation of East-West Seed executives and (family and independent) board members, Ard participated in the FAME program of the INSEAD business school in 2011. Ard has also participated in the Leading from the Chair program at INSEAD in 2015.