Thijs Hendrix to be knighted in French order

The ambassador of France in the Netherlands, His Excellency Jean-François Blarel, will knight Thijs Hendrix as “Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole” the National Order of Agricultural Merit in France. The ceremony will take place on May 27 at the Hendrix family farm “Saazehof” in Ospel in The Netherlands.

This order of merit was established in France on 7 July 1883 by the French Minister of Agriculture Jules Méline to reward special people who are serving agriculture.

According to the French, Thijs Hendrix (1955) is such a person. He is a farmer and entrepreneur, as were his father and grandfather, with a registered office since 1923 at “Saazehof” in Ospel, The Netherlands. Through his company Hendrix Genetics, headquartered in Boxmeer, he continues to focus on growth and consolidation opportunities in animal breeding and life sciences.

In 2005 the “Projet Charlemagne” was initiated by Alain Audubert (current Président Honoraire of Hendrix Genetics). Thijs Hendrix and Antoon van den Berg then founded Hendrix Genetics, and created a global company in egg layer genetics by combining Institut de Sélection Animale (ISA) and Hendrix Poultry Breeders. Soon thereafter in 2007, Euribrid was acquired from Nutreco and included in the group. In 2008 Sofiprotéol, a French company in the vegetable oil and protein industry, became long-term strategic minority shareholder in Hendrix Genetics. Since then Hendrix Genetics is continuously developing through autonomous growth and acquisitions.

With a number of wholly owned operations and joint ventures across the world in 22 countries on four continents, Hendrix Genetics serves with more than 1.500 employees the world’s poultry, aquaculture and pork industries in over 100 countries.

Related website: Hendrix Genetics