FrieslandCampina struggles with trust problem

According to CEO Hein Schumacher, the confidence problem is due to multiple factors, but it also has to do with the company's deteriorating financial performance. He notes that the sharp drop in revenues from baby food sales to China in particular are continuing to flow. "When I took office in 2018, sales via Hong Kong were good for €250 million in profit per year. That has fallen to 0." He believes that other activities did not absorb this decline better than they did.

Director and supervisory director Hans Hettinga was less clear in his analysis. He expressed particular concern about the departure of members. "We have a pretty good idea of ​​why these members are leaving," he said, but offered no further explanation. Nor did he point to a solution.

Hettinga kept it business-like and is mainly concerned about 'the risk that as a cooperative you will only get smaller'. According to him, opening the door a little further for aspiring entrants would solve a lot. Now that door is almost closed. "There are always people who would like to join."

Many other factors mentioned by members remained unmentioned. Such as the direction of the cooperative and company tops and the lack of perceived involvement, as expressed in a report of the National Cooperative Council.

In the NRC of this week the struggle within FrieslandCampina is characterized as a struggle between the 'camp farmer' and the 'camp multinational'. This suggests a battle between the company plus 'meaning in' administrators on the one hand and farmers who want to keep pulling the strings on the other. This is a classic problem in cooperatives that have become large.

To easy
Schumacher seems to see things differently and want to reduce the problem to an issue that will pass when money is made again. That seems too easy. If the members of the cooperative, the owners, do not want to go in a direction that the management wants - such as more coordination with Natuurmonumenten and other NGOs - then there is still serious work to be done.

Control model
In addition, it is quite possible that many members would also like to discuss the management model at FrieslandCampina. Should it remain a management-driven cooperative, also with a disproportionate influence of external commissioners on the direction of the company? Or should more say go back to the members themselves? After all, the members of the cooperative have become increasingly empowered and more highly educated.