Background ForFarmers
Departure Yoram Knoop does not fall out of the sky
When a football coach does not perform, he usually has to leave the field. Especially when the team does not feel a connection with the leadership. For that reason, Yoram Knoop will probably also leave as CEO of ForFarmers. Although Knoop has performed well, the chemistry between him and the listed animal feed group seems to have worked out.
Knoop will remain as CEO until April next year, completing his second term. He has been at the helm since 2014 and in his early years took the final steps that turned the ForFarmers cooperative into a listed multinational. He had the honor of sounding the symbolic gong on the day of the IPO and that was right up his alley. After all, Knoop possesses the necessary business bravado, something the modest farmer's fair debutant from the east of the Netherlands could use to get the attention of investors.
Too little connection with supporters
Although the departure probably comes as a surprise to many, there was some dissatisfaction with his performance in the background. Knoop is praised for implementing efficiency and professionalization programs, as befits a listed company. Yet he has the image of a director who has too little connection with the sector and that it is difficult to sell to the supporters. It generates little goodwill among customer-members of the FromFarmers cooperative, which is still the majority shareholder in ForFarmers. Shortly after he took office as CEO, Knoop an unfortunate statement by labeling the Netherlands primarily as a piglet production country, which he then had to nuance in order to keep fattening pig farmers as customers.
Managers of large companies in the agricultural sector must be able to play chess on several boards. Being able to tell in detail about Ebita's is important, but being able to level up with the supporters is just as important. Entrepreneurs from the primary agricultural sector have been brought up with sobriety and passion for the profession and the sector. This involvement was missed by buyers, but also by employees, it is said in the corridors. In other words: Knoop speaks more the language of the accountant and investor, but less that of the farmer. When the Ebitda then comes under a lot of pressure and the stock price sinks deeply, it begins to fumble within the ranks. This combination of factors now seems to be the reason for the - more or less forced - departure of Knoop.
Not enough for Knoop
Nevertheless, Knoop did not perform insufficiently. As mentioned, his know-how was welcome during the period in which the IPO was realised. In recent years, under his leadership, a few acquisitions have also been made that have spread the organisation's activities more evenly. The Polish Tasomix, among others, was incorporated and ForFarmers expanded to a fifth country. Feed sales passed the 2018 million tons mark in 10, although it did fall back after that. Knoop has also formulated the ambitious goal to move outside of Europe, something that is probably urgently needed to cope with the shrinking animal numbers in the home markets.
Although these plans have not yet been fleshed out, he has formulated a future-proof policy that a successor can continue with. It will have to work to boost profitability and prevent new purchasing mistakes. ForFarmers indicates that it has started looking for a successor. With COO Pieter Wolleswinkel, the company has a crown prince who does speak the farmer's language. In recent years, he has come to the fore more and more. However, a position as CEO is likely to come too soon. The search for a new CEO promises to be an interesting one anyway, because there are hardly any sheep with five legs.
Wouter Job
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