London, 8 May 2025 - SoilPoint Humic Co ("SoilPoint" or “the Company”), a leader in innovative soil solutions which support sustainably intensive farming, has announced the appointment of Denis Punter as its Non-Executive Chairman, and Susan Lowther as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director. The new Board will work with the current shareholders to execute plans to scale the business.
A former Chairman of Total Produce plc, (now a part of Dole plc), Denis joins SoilPoint at an exciting juncture in the Company’s growth, with SoilPoint having recently launched major initiatives in the UK, Spain and Costa Rica, to demonstrate the effectiveness of its sustainable soil solution, SoilPoint’s Soil Booster, in restoring depleted soils, increasing crop yields and reducing farmers’ net input costs.
As Chairman of Total Produce, Denis helped build the Company to become the UK’s largest fresh produce business with annual sales of $850m. Alongside chairing the UK businesses, he supported Total’s expansion in the US, expanding their business in North America from launch to over $2 billion in annual revenue. He subsequently worked on the merger of Total Produce with Dole which led to Dole’s IPO in North America resulting in the creation of Dole plc. With a turnover of $10 billion, Dole plc is the largest fresh produce company in the World.
Susan joins SoilPoint as Chief Financial Officer and brings extensive experience of growing companies and executing M&A transactions. Susan’s public company experience includes global biopharmaceutical group Arecor Therapeutics plc, neuroscience imaging and biomarker analytics company, IXICO and healthcare diagnostics business Lab21. She is an independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee of BiVictrix Therapeutics.
With a proven track record of growing businesses, Denis and Susan will help the Company, led by CEO Alan Forrester, become a major name in the global agricultural industry, as it expands the global distribution and deployment of SoilPoint’s Soil Booster. SoilPoint’s Soil Booster is a UK Soil Association-certified soil conditioner developed to help farmers restore depleted topsoil, support crop yields, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving overall soil health. SoilPoint’s Soil Booster can lead to an estimated crop yield increase of up to 30% and more in some recent cases.
In March, with leading agricultural supply chain manager, Cefetra, SoilPoint launched a pioneering soil health initiative which will see up to 36 UK farmers replace nitrate fertilisers and other chemical inputs with SoilPoint’s Soil Booster. In April, SoilPoint entered a three-way partnership with insurance provider Cornish Mutual, and Terrafarmer, a specialist in soil health and regenerative farming solutions, to use SoilPoint’s Soil Booster at several farms covered by Cornish Mutual in Southwest England.
Denis Punter, Chairman of SoilPoint, said: "There is a real opportunity to transform global food production as demand for more sustainable farming practices grows. SoilPoint’s innovative solutions have an immense potential to drive meaningful change to help farmers restore depleted topsoil, support crop yields, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I’m excited to have the opportunity to help the Company expand its global presence.”
Alan Forrester, CEO of SoilPoint, commented: “The appointment of Denis and Susan comes at an important moment for SoilPoint. As we look to scale our operations and expand our trial programs, their expertise will be invaluable. With their help, we can accelerate our commercialisation timeline and get SoilPoint’s Soil Booster to more farmers. Better soils and reduced nitrogen use go hand in hand with maintaining productive and profitable farming, including sustainably intensive farming, which is essential for the future of agriculture.”
Enquiries:
SoilPoint
via SEC Newgate
Marta Seitz , Sophie Shorthose
+44 (0)20 3757 6718
Notes to Editors:
Denis Punter
Denis qualified as an Accountant while working for Spillers & Dalgety in their Animal Feed & Flour Milling Divisions where he became Financial Controller. In 1980 he moved into Fresh Produce joining Glass Glover as Finance Director. Denis worked alongside the Glass family tripling the size of the business through acquisition.
In 1987 Denis joined Geest as Finance Director of their Fresh Produce Division and subsequently became Commercial Director in 1989 and MD of Worldwide Fruit in 1991. In 1994, he became Chief Executive of Geest Wholesale and Food service Division which included the Francis Nicholls Group. In 1995 Denis led the MBO of the Geest’s Wholesale & Foodservice businesses under the Francis Nicholls banner and became its CEO. In 1997 Francis Nicholls entered the Retail sector through the acquisition of Frumar/Worldfresh and the enlarged group was rechristened Redbridge with Denis becoming CEO.
Redbridge made several further acquisitions including the berry business AFI and having developed the business with group sales in excess of $300m. In 2007, he sold the business to Total Produce. Following the sale, Denis became Chairman of the enlarged Total Produce & Redbridge businesses and led the integration and subsequently through further growth and acquisition Total become the UK’s largest Fresh Produce business with sales of $850m
Alongside Chairing the UK businesses, Denis supported Total’s expansion in the US building their business in North America from zero to over $2 billion in annual sales. More recently, Denis worked on the merger of Total Produce with Dole which led to Dole’s IPO in North America resulting in the creation of Dole plc. With a turnover of $10 billion, Dole plc is the largest Fresh Produce company in the World.
Denis continued, until recently, to Chair Doles UK business as well as leading Dole PLC strategy in a number of key areas alongside sitting on the board of many of Dole’s companies in Europe & North America where he advised on strategy & acquisitions.
Denis also provides support as a non-executive to a number of businesses including Reynolds the largest independent Food Service Company in the UK.
Susan Lowther
Susan Lowther has over 30 years of experience in senior financial leadership roles across a broad range of public and private life science companies. Susan’s previous Chief Financial Officer roles include Arecor Therapeutics plc, IXICO plc, Novacyt SA, BioWisdom and Lab21 Group.
About SoilPoint
SoilPoint was founded in the USA by an experienced group of farmers, food industry executives and soil technology experts to restore depleted soils using a natural humic-based process. SoilPoint has run soil trials globally to prove the efficacy of its Soil Booster product and to sell to farmers and horticulturalists to boost crop yields and soil nutrient levels. Studies have demonstrated that the use of SoilPoint’s Soil Booster can lead to an estimated Crop Yield Increase of up to 30%. SoilPoint is appr
