20 August 2008 - 15:50
Excerpt of the Chairman’s report at the Annual General Meeting on 20 August 2008
In his report at Danisco's Annual General Meeting, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Anders Knutsen, said among other things:
There is every reason to take an active interest in all that has happened since last year’s annual general meeting. This general meeting is special because this is the day we decide on the future ownership of our sugar activities – an important and necessary change – just as we promised last year!
The past year has been extremely exciting and eventful for Danisco. When we met here last year, I told you about a company steering successfully through major changes. The last pieces of the puzzle are now falling into place – with the sale of Sugar as the absolute main event. With a focused food ingredients business and new and more long-term activities within biotech, we have brought Danisco into a new reality. The reality of tomorrow. This means that we have created a platform for growth opportunities and future earnings potential for our company.
It is all about exploiting Danisco’s unique technology platform to an even greater extent than before. And it is about being willing to run greater risks than previously. We have chosen the name “Becoming first choice” for this new strategy. This means that going forward we will aim to be the preferred company. Whether by customers, suppliers, business partners or employees.
Over the past 10-11 years we have seen one structural change after the other. It has been a long, but necessary journey. Now we are done with the radical changes, so the Danisco you see today after Sugar has been sold is the Danisco we will build on for many years to come.
In other words, we are done with selling off, and have put value-creating growth on the agenda.
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