'We now know how to merge feed companies'

Cooperative ABZ De Samenwerking and cooperative De Valk Wekerom will finally continue together after a trial period of fifteen months. This is not a big surprise, but it is striking that the old name ABZ Diervoeding is being revived. In three years, director Marcel Roordink has already merged four feed companies and a fifth has been added with De Valk Wekerom. "We are good at merging feed companies."

Congratulations on this step. Are you gradually becoming the merger specialist of the Dutch compound feed sector?
Roordink laughs: "I wouldn't call it that, but we do have a lot of experience in merging feed companies. And although it may sound arrogant, I dare say that we are good at it. We have merged five companies in recent years. , so we know what awaits us. The world around us is changing, just like Dutch livestock farming and the vision thereof. We are anticipating the future with the mergers and acquisitions. "

What do you gain from the De Valk cooperative?
"The merger not only makes us bigger, but we also enrich the new cooperative. De Valk is a leader in organic and has traditionally been strong in laying poultry. Thanks to the merger, we also produce organic feed in our own factory. This was not the case before. The merger will be effected next week, but we will retroactively merge our annual accounts with effect from 2024."

With this step you will pass the limit of 1 million tons of compound feed?
"I think we remain just below this limit. But that's fine. Good is better than great. We do get even better regional coverage and we are strongly committed to that."

What is actually the secret of a successful merger?
"The trick is to actually integrate the different companies and at the same time maintain the identity in the region. Integration means working via the same systems, implementing the same employment conditions and merging the feed ranges. We manage the purchasing, quality and finance departments centrally. We try to maintain our identity by working from the region. So it is no problem for us if the food is ordered in the dialect or in the Frisian language, to name just an example." 
 
Are you dusting off the old name ABZ Animal Nutrition?
"Yes, that's right. We have to merge five companies in three years. To add De Valk Wekerom cooperative to our current name ABZ De Samenwerking would be illogical. Moreover, it is not strong from a marketing perspective. Internally, We joked that this would not fit the bulk car. That is why we hired a trademark agency to manage this process. We also thought about a completely new name, but that is not an option which costs a lot of money. ABZ is a strong name and it has a number of advantages. It starts with an A and so you are often at the top of lists. In addition, it is easy to understand and the letters A and Z in our name suggest that there is a lot in between And that is also the case in our case. We consciously add the suffix animal food after the name ABZ. We are of course not KLM or IBM and the whole of the Netherlands knows who they are."

Have you merged now?
"Let me put it this way: we do not need a merger for the time being to take a step forward. However, with a market share of around 10%, it is not the case that we have grown in the Netherlands. In the near future our focus will be on good integration of the different companies. But if someone calls and says: 'Marcel, let's go for a cup of coffee', I won't say no in advance. But to avoid misunderstandings, that doesn't suit us cooperative."

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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