Italpollina's CEO Luca Bonini selected as new President of EBIC

The European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC) elected a new President Luca Bonini, CEO and owner of Italpollina, a founding member of EBIC. Italpollina is involved in the production and sale of different kind of biostimulants, giving Luca a broad view of the sector. His company is active well beyond its native Italy, with an export rate well over 50%, giving Luca personal knowledge of different markets in Europe. In 2014-2015, Luca Bonini was the elected President of ECOFI (European Consortium of Organic-based Fertilizers Industry), where he followed the evolution of the new fertilising products regulation closely and further developed his leadership skills as the head of a European association.

Speaking to the EBIC membership in his inaugural presidential speech, Mr Bonini said he was honoured to take on the senior role at such a well-respected association and thanked his predecessor Mr Natale for his enthusiasm, vision, and tireless efforts as the founding president for the association’s first seven years. He also congratulated EBIC’s members for their contribution to the association’s success, explaining that the membership had “taken on a truly European profile” by putting consensus at the heart of EBIC’s work. Going forward, Mr Bonini identified two key focus areas for his upcoming presidential term: future technology and education. “The future is already here”, he explained, adding that education about the biostimulant industry and other new technologies is more important than ever for farmers and consumers alike.

The outgoing EBIC president Giuseppe Natale, CEO of Valagro SpA, was EBIC’s first president and led the association since its creation in 2011. He was commended by the membership for bringing EBIC into existence and for inspiring many with his pioneering vision which helped to establish the association’s position as the global authority on biostimulants.

Luca Bonini was elected for a two-year term and presides over the six-strong EBIC Board:

Francisco Miguel (Atlántica Agrícola) and Jean-Marc Sanchez (Lallemand Plant Care) were re-elected respectively to the roles of Treasurer and Director-at-Large for additional two-year terms.
Massimo Toni (Agronutrition) was elected to his first term as Director-at-Large.

At 2017 EBIC’s General Assembly, Paul Mullins (Brandon Bioscience) was re-elected as vice-president for a two-year term, while Martin Brown (Verdesian Life Sciences) and Claudia Michel (Bayer CropScience) joined as Directors-at-Large, also for a two-year mandate.