The trip to Pop Vriend in Andijk was again not possible due to coronavirus. Instead, the CEB Circle experienced exciting tours in Einbeck.
Tradition
Family shareholders
meet in Einbeck
The annual meeting of the CEB Circle was again held in Einbeck. The shareholders from the Büchting family were able to see for themselves how innovative and well-positioned KWS is.
The KWS Circle had planned last year to travel to Andijk and get to know the site of the company Pop Vriend, but – because of the travel restrictions due to coronavirus – instead met at headquarters in Einbeck on September 17.
After a joint lunch in the Forum’s guest area, Léon Broers from the Executive Board gave a talk on the current status of vegetable activities at KWS in the auditorium. The subsequent tours focused on research and development. In the Biotechnology Center, Jürgen Schweden, former Head of Research at KWS, explained how genome editing works and described what role modern breeding methods will play in developing plant varieties in the future.
The visitors were able to see one concrete result of this approach in the LEO greenhouse: Dietmar Stahl, Scientific Director of the PILTON project, presented wheat plants in which a single gene has been modified in a precise manner using genome editing, As a result, the plants use their own immune system longer and more intensively and have greater tolerance to fungal infestation – without the use of any chemical pesticides whatsoever.
The shareholder family was able to marvel at a further example of KWS’ innovativeness in the PhenoFactory. The scientist Ben Gruber demonstrated how research into traits related to drought tolerance is conducted in the greenhouse using self-propelled robots, cameras and artificial intelligence.
Felix Büchting brought the official program to a close with a presentation on strategic planning. In the subsequent discussions, the members of the CEB Circle noted how impressed they were at KWS’ innovativeness and how well equipped it was to tackle future tasks. |
INFORMATION
The CEB Circle
As long-standing Chairman of the Executive Board and later of the Supervisory Board, Carl-Ernst Büchting (1915–2010) – known as CEB for short – stood at KWS’ helm as a representative of the fifth generation of the founding family. His children and their families come together in the CEB Circle. To nurture contact with the company and to keep informed of the latest developments, the family visits a KWS location once a year, usually on the weekend around CEB’s birthday on September 6. The founding family’s traditionally close ties to the company are a hallmark of KWS and are to be continued in the future. |
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