From Karnebeek FrieslandCampina pulls smoothly

The half-year figures will be presented next month, so many details have not been released yet, but it can be assumed that things are going pretty well. 

What Van Karnebeek has achieved can be called quite an achievement, considering the circumstances in which FrieslandCampina found itself. The most important thing is probably that he has restored peace around the cooperative and dairy company.

Doesn't say crazy things and runs around a bit
Although he is of noble birth and a friend of the king, Van Karnebeek is very approachable and speaks plain language. He also does not say strange things that the members do not understand or that irritate them, as his predecessors sometimes did. On the contrary, Van Karnebeek knows what it is like to have a company, understands something about land and tries to show his face as much as possible. He goes on company visits, rides along on the RMO or spends a day with the field service. And if he does not do that, there is a good chance that he is abroad, in one of the countries where FrieslandCampina has an important sales market. He runs a bit. The switch from beer (Heineken) to milk seems to have been successful - just as previous predecessor Cees 't Hart successfully took the step in the opposite direction. 

Meanwhile, the CEO does not give interviews or only very limitedly. Perhaps that also helps him to navigate between the cliffs. As the highest boss of a company in the animal production chain, you do not quickly do well in the (general) media. Van Karnebeek also shows little desire to take on traditional roles of a FrieslandCampina boss, such as the chairmanship of the dairy industry organization NZO, or to get involved in livestock farming discussions. The latter is also something that is more the path of a cooperative chairman. 

Clean ship immediately
Business-wise, things are going well under Van Karnebeek's leadership. What helped is that he took office in the middle of the year in 2023. He used the second half of 2023, after the departure of predecessor Hein Schumacher, to thoroughly clean up the company and take as many expenses as possible on account of the year that ended. Van Karnebeek made a clean sweep. The annual figures for 2023 did not show a very good picture. Turnover turned out to have fallen sharply, almost €150 million in formal losses were incurred and the general reserves were €770 million smaller than a year earlier.

Way further up 
Fortunately for FrieslandCampina and Van Karnebeek, the road to recovery was then set. Numerous cost savings and improved internal cooperation helped. The half-year figures for 2024 were already quite positive, the figures for the full financial year 2024 were even much better than for 2023. 

On that occasion, Van Karnebeek and Jansen hinted that they might expect a bit more headwind for the first half of 2025, but judging from the latest signals, it might not be so bad. Moreover, it doesn't look bad for the rest of the year either. The dairy market seems to remain tight for the time being and many prices are stable, but at a high level, while they are expected to go up a bit more rather than down.

Satisfied members again
The members of FrieslandCampina are in any case receiving an excellent milk price again and also seem quite satisfied with the current situation at FrieslandCampina. The cooperative also indicates that there are more dairy farmers who are interested in becoming a member. FrieslandCampina is doing everything it can to help them on board. This week, the members' council agreed to lower the threshold for entry even further. For example, the period during which the suspension of the entrance fee applies has been made more favourable and members and prospective members can qualify for favourable financing sooner if they want to buy extra delivery certificates. The time of high walls around the cooperative seems to be a thing of the past.

Merging after restructuring
Well before the presentation of the good annual figures for 2024, Van Karnebeek, together with cooperative chairman Sybren Attema, was allowed to present a proposed merger with Milcobel. This should be completed in the course of this year. This also means that FrieslandCampina is moving forward again, although a merger with a larger foreign cooperative, such as Hochwald, Sodiaal or Emmi, would perhaps have been better, but in terms of culture it also has to fit and something like that may follow. It is no longer possible to do business with Arla and/or DMK, although they are almost certainly having a hard enough time getting their merger approved by the competition authorities. A merger with Milcobel will in any case compensate for part of the loss of members and milk in recent years, but FrieslandCampina is not really stepping outside the boundaries of its own working area.