Background Theo Spierings
ForFarmers brings in Louis van Gaal from the dairy
When Frank de Boer had to leave the Netherlands last year, the KNVB ended up with heavyweight Louis van Gaal, who had long since retired. There were no younger successors, or they were not suitable. The temporary appointment of Theo Spierings (58) as CEO of ForFarmers bears some resemblance to this. In the past, Spierings was also referred to as the 'Louis van Gaal of dairy'. Although Spierings had not yet retired, his appointment can be called a remarkable comeback. Still, ForFarmers and Spierings could be a surprisingly good match.
After the farewell of Chris Deen, the Supervisory Board of ForFarmers acted very quickly. Less than a month after the final departure is his appointed successor in the person of Theo Spierings. Although Spierings is well known in the agribusiness, few would have tipped him as the new CEO of the listed animal feed group, which has had its fair share of headwinds in recent years. After all, Spierings, CEO at Fonterra until 2018, announced two years ago that he would take a different approach to his career and became an entrepreneur in philanthropy. With his new company, he aimed to collaborate with none other than Bill Gates. So there is no lack of ambition at Spierings.
Put things in order
A high dose of ambition serves Spierings well in his new position at ForFarmers. He will start in 2023, in principle for one year. He takes office in turbulent times, as they say in Lochem itself. With the shrinking livestock in the home markets as the biggest challenge. In recent years, things have also gone wrong internally. A great opportunity for Spierings to put things in order at the market leader of the European compound feed sector. Although the name ForFarmers has become somewhat smeared in recent years, it remains a wonderful international company with a rich history.
Spierings does have experience at large companies. From mid-2011 to early 2018, he was the chief executive of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra. He had a wonderful time there, he said in an email two years ago interview with this site. However, his farewell was less pleasant. He left through the back door, while Fonterra was in financial trouble.
Around his illustrious farewell to Fonterra, the New Zealand media drew parallels with Louis van Gaal, who was fired from Manchester United at the time. "Both are confident in themselves, but bad at communicating," the newspapers wrote ruthlessly. The New Zealand Minister of Regional Development took it a step further and said that Spierings had devastated New Zealand's dairy economy more than the financial crisis in 2013. Even the minister got involved because Fonterra is the largest company of New Zealand and the interests for the country are therefore great. Spierings later parried the criticism: "A position like that is just like in professional football, the last performance especially lingers. If you have been a top man at Fonterra for more than eight years, then many things have gone well."
Cooperative experience comes in handy
Still, it is not surprising that ForFarmers chose Spierings. He is a go-getter and full of experience in global agribusiness. This fits in well with the stock exchange group with Achterhoek roots, where sobriety and hard work are of paramount importance. Spierings' international experience will probably come in handy. Two years ago, ForFarmers announced its intention to enter two growth markets outside Europe. At the beginning of this year, however, these plans became reality on hold when the results were disappointing and a focus on the home markets was called for. Next Thursday, ForFarmers will provide an update of the new strategy, in which the international ambitions may be announced again. Spierings can think big and has experience outside Europe.
Finally, what also speaks for Spierings is his cooperative experience. First at FrieslandFoods, where in 2009 he played a prominent role in the merger team with Campina. And later at Fonterra. Although ForFarmers is listed on the stock exchange, there are close ties with minority shareholder FromFarmers, of which many farmer customers are members. Former CEO Yoram Knoop, on the other hand, struggled to level with the peasant base and probably had to for that reason leave the ship. Chris Deen came from Aviko, where the ties with farmers are also close. With Spierings, ForFarmers has once again brought in a leader who knows how farmers think, something that the Supervisory Board apparently attaches great value to. Spierings, in turn, may be out for revenge after his sour exit at Fonterra before he retires. He can start building again at ForFarmers, although a contract duration of one year is of course not long. Anyway, Louis van Gaal did not have much time to prepare the Dutch national team for the World Cup in Qatar.
Wouter Job
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