ForFarmers and Agrifirm have withdrawn their membership of Nevedi as of 2025, trade journal De Molenaar revealed last Friday, something that had been circulating in the feed sector for some time. With the departure of the two feed giants, the trade association of the feed sector is in danger of becoming paralyzed at a time when cohesion is perhaps more important than ever. Can the broken pieces still be glued together?
Nevedi director Henk Flipsen was not completely thrown off balance, although he did not see ForFarmers' termination coming at all. Agrifirm had long been known to be critical of the costs and benefits of membership, he said when asked. This brings us directly to the question of how high these costs actually are. Flipsen does not say anything about that. He does say that this is based on the turnover of individual feed companies. That makes these terminations all the more sensitive. ForFarmers and Agrifirm, together with De Heus, are by far the largest companies in our country and therefore make the highest contributions. According to Flipsen, the budget for 2025 was already ready, but he can get back to work.
The terminations are also a moral slap in the face. The trade association has a coverage of 95% of the feed companies. In recent years, terminations have practically not occurred; only when members were taken over by other members.
Critical of the costs
The fact that Agrifirm and ForFarmers in particular have terminated their membership is not entirely surprising when viewed from a distance. Both companies wrote (limited) red figures in 2023. Both Agrifirm and ForFarmers recently had to reorganise, or are still in the middle of this. A logical consequence is that the Nevedi costs are also being critically examined. The listed ForFarmers probably also feels the hot breath of investors - and perhaps also NGOs - on its neck to set high sustainability standards. This argument is in any case explicitly put forward by the animal feed company as the primary reason for the termination. Spokesperson Ilse Nijhof-Duivelshof says that ForFarmers wants to become more sustainable faster than the collective within Nevedi wants. "Nevedi's efforts are not effective enough for us."
ForFarmers spokesperson
According to Flipsen, Nevedi sometimes comes down to compromises, as is inherent to associations. "Individual members sometimes have their own agenda, which is often the same in broad outline within the collective." He does not want to say exactly where the discussions get stuck. He does acknowledge that processes within a member association often take time, because certain process steps simply have to be followed. Do the departing companies have a point? "They are certainly making a clear statement. However, as a trade association with almost complete coverage, we will be stronger in the future than if companies were to approach this individually." Incidentally, he does not think that the cancellations will lead to a chain reaction.
Right to exist
Even without ForFarmers and Agrifirm, Nevedi has a right to exist, according to Flipsen. Nevertheless, he is keeping the door wide open for the departing companies. The termination of ForFarmers is final, Niehof indicates. She speaks of a businesslike, well-considered and irreversible decision. Agrifirm is still keeping the door ajar. This is mainly due to the contribution that must be substantially reduced. Time is of the essence, because in that case the feed cooperative must formally reverse the decision before the end of December. In any case, Nevedi must make sharp choices, Flipsen acknowledges. A planned process to revise the strategy from 2025 has therefore been brought forward, but this decision comes too late for the time being to glue the pieces together.