Personal
My name is Mark Schermer and I am married to MaryJane. Together we have 3 children, almost 4 grandchildren. 2 dogs and 3 cats, which completes the full and fun dynamic at home.
History
I was born in Westland, The Netherlands in 1975. Although born in Westland, my parents did not own a nursery. So, my greenhouse experience comes from working in the greenhouse production on Saturdays and during my school vacations. I had my first job harvesting Iris flowers at 4 years old in the greenhouse of my uncle. My greenhouses operations experience extended to other crops, such as: pot chrysanthemum, cactus, Poinsettia, NG Impatiens, Lilly cut flowers, Gerbera cut flowers, amongst others. I got through high school on pre-university level and graduated high school in 1993. After that, I went to college in Delft, where I studied Business, with the focus on International Marketing Management.
Professional life
When I graduated college in 1998, I was hired by a consultancy company in strategy, marketing and communications. That is where I learned what marketing really meant. I consulted many different companies in horticulture. In 2004, I was hired by a breeding company as product manager for cut chrysanthemum. I worked myself up as manager marketing and communications.
I started my own consultancy Palladyn in April 2016. I worked for companies in and outside horticulture. In 2018 I started at Syngenta Flowers. In September 2020 I was appointed Head of Flowers for Syngenta and have been in the position since.
