Analysis Enter
With Pieter Wolleswinkel, ForFarmers opts for the interests of the farmer
It is almost impossible to write a book about the many changes within the management of ForFarmers in recent months. With Theo Spierings, the listed animal feed group thought it had a heavyweight to get things back on track, but personal circumstances threw a spanner in the works. Farmer's son Pieter Wolleswinkel (1977) is now allowed to pull the cart. He certainly has the potential to be ultimately responsible, but this heavy role will probably come sooner than he would have liked.
After the Yoram Knoop era, ForFarmers is certainly not doing well in the administrative field. Chris Deen came over from Aviko last summer, but had to resign due to illness within three months. A statement that was taken for granted by many, because Deen was not a big name. As a successor, ForFarmers came as a surprise to many former Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings, who had already exchanged the top of business for a social career. ForFarmers CFO Roeland Tjebbes is well known to Spierings and with some help from a headhunter he was caught.
Rehabilitation and greening
Spierings could not say no to the tempting challenge. He didn't have to do it for the money, but feelings of reparation and revenge probably played a part in getting started at ForFarmers. Although Spierings basically has nothing left to prove, his farewell at Fonterra was not a pretty one. At ForFarmers he was able to add another - hopefully good - new chapter to his successful career in his own country, but that was not granted to him.
Spierings started his job in good spirits in January. Putting things in order and getting the ship back between the buoys was his motto. After all, ForFarmers was and is in difficult waters. Due to the shrinking animal numbers, feed sales volumes are under pressure in almost all markets with the exception of Poland. In recent years, things have also gone wrong internally, such as purchasing mistakes. Investors walked out en masse, partly because of the nitrogen problem in the Netherlands that is associated with ForFarmers. Customers also sometimes walked away, as a result of which feed sales contracted faster than the market.
Spierings wanted to go green with ForFarmers and keep up with the spirit of the times. To the outside world, Spierings never stated in detail what he intended to do with ForFarmers. He was to make his first public appearance at the explanation of the annual figures in February, but that morning it turned out that Spierings could not be there due to circumstances. After that it remained quiet for a while, but there were already signs that 'something was going on' around him. It now appears that Spierings also has to stop working for health and private reasons. So, after Chris Deen's illness, double bad luck for ForFarmers at management level.
'Home-grown' with expertise
The Supervisory Board was probably not in the mood to start another search for a successor. Pieter Wolleswinkel has therefore now been appointed as the new CEO from its own ranks. In football terms, he is homegrown. He has been working for ForFarmers in various positions since 2014 and comes from a mixed farm. For example, he led the pig division for a year and eventually became operational director. In his career plan it was already written in pencil that he would eventually grow to CEO. This only comes a little earlier than planned, as careers often turn out differently.
Unlike his predecessors, the new CEO also has substantive knowledge of feed and livestock. Wolleswinkel is trained as a veterinarian. He comes across as a calm and sensible person, without star allures. Something that fits well with the traditional farmers' cooperative and that is also highly appreciated by the clientele. With the choice of Wolleswinkel, ForFarmers is clearly putting farmers' interests first, although there is also a risk if things go wrong. After all, in addition to producing feed, ForFarmers is also a listed company, which requires financial insight and strategic ingenuity from the CEO. He can prove himself in that area.
Between the departure of Deen and the arrival of Spierings, he had already had a taste of the position for a few months, when he was in charge together with CFO Tjebbes. Now he can go for the 'real'. His LinkedIn profile was updated this morning shortly after the press announcement with the caption Proud to be ForFarmers. He has the challenging task of giving the listed feed company the flair that has gradually crumbled in recent years.
Wouter Job
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