Again the annual general meeting was held in virtual form. A total of over 270 (previous year: over 300) shareholders and guests followed the broadcast. In the run-up to the meeting, 85 (last year: 137) questions were submitted, which were responded to by the members of the executive board and the chairman of the supervisory board.

Changes to the supervisory board

The five-year term of office of Südzucker AG’s supervisory board ended at the close of the annual general meeting, resulting in changes to the board. The long-time chairman of the supervisory board, Dr Hans-Jörg Gebhard, did not stand for re-election after 27 years on the board. His successor as chairman of the supervisory board is Dr. Stefan Streng, chairman of the board of the Association of Southern German sugar beet growers (Verband der Süddeutschen Zuckerrübenanbauer e.V.). As Dr. Streng was already an acting member of the supervisory board, Clemens Schaaf, chairman of the Association of sugar beet growers in Saxony and Thuringia (Verband der Sächsisch-Thüringischen Zuckerrübenanbauer e.V.), was newly elected to the board as a shareholder representative.

On the employee representative side, Mustafa Öz, Bavarian regional chairman of the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG), is a new member of the supervisory board. He succeeds Franz-Josef Möllenberg, who also did not stand for re-election after 30 years on the board.

All other members of the supervisory board were re-elected.

Contract extension for Dr Niels Pörksen

In addition, Dr Hans-Jörg Gebhard informed the annual general meeting that the supervisory board today extended the executive board contract of Dr Niels Pörksen, CEO of Südzucker AG, by another five years; this contract will thus run until 28 February 2028. "We believe that this decision by the supervisory board ensures continuity on Südzucker AG’s executive board so that we can master the tasks ahead of us in the best possible way and continue to be successful in the future," says Dr Hans-Jörg Gebhard.