Promotion of CFO Klimp at Vion is not illogical

The fact that 52-year-old Klimp will succeed Lotgerink as CEO of Vion from January is first of all quite remarkable. As the current CFO, she has been responsible for the financial affairs of the meat processor for three years. And that is precisely where the pain lies, as has long been known. The annual figures for 2023 have still not been presented, but were probably not good again. Nevertheless, the Vion supervisory board apparently has so much confidence to push her forward to the position of final boss. This makes her the first female CEO of Vion, operating in a world dominated by men, which is a great first for her.

Departure Lotgerink
Lotgerink's impending departure does not come as a bolt from the blue. In the weeks leading up to his announced departure, there were already rumours that changes were imminent at the top of Vion. Lotgerink will complete this year and will probably take it easier after a few hectic years. He claims to the Brabants Dagblad that Vion is in a better position after his departure than when he took office.

Lotgerink's performance is all in all somewhat difficult to interpret. It was not a good enough result, that much is clear. The mitigating circumstances are that Vion is not an easy company, as evidenced by the often sloppy results in the past. In addition, he had to lead Vion through difficult times. The outbreak of African swine fever in Germany four years ago still haunts the company to this day. This is also the reason that Vion is now leaving the German market. The corona pandemic also presented major challenges, both in the market and on the work floor.

Changed my mind
The pressure on Lotgerink has increased considerably, especially in the last two years. Earlier this year, he decided to leave Germany, which was certainly not an easy decision. That shows decisiveness. But whether this was a completely well-thought-out plan is questionable. When we asked him last summer whether leaving Germany was an option, he firmly replied that he did not want to sell the loss-making German activities. Later, he apparently changed his mind.

Whether the implemented slimming strategy is also the right choice, only time will tell. The company will roughly go from €5 to €3 billion in turnover in the coming years due to the departure from Germany, as calculated by Lotgerink and Klimp. The weak balance sheet can be strengthened by the revenues generated by the sales of German locations. This will make Vion more robust and also more transparent and therefore probably easier to manage.

Restore stability
It is up to Klimp to quickly bring Vion back into more stable waters. First and foremost in financial terms, but also in other areas. The company has not excelled in communicating in recent years. Vion's pig price also sometimes makes unusual movements that sometimes caused bad blood in the sector. In addition, the reorganization also causes tensions internally on the work floor, although that is of course not entirely surprising. Due to the rapid shrinkage of the pig population in the Netherlands, it will also be a challenge to keep the slaughter hooks well filled.

The originally Groningen arable farming daughter Klimp however appears down-to-earth and sensible and has the necessary experience in her backpack to be able to lead Vion in the coming years. She already led the reorganization plan and knows all the ins and outs. In any case, she does not need to be trained and that saves valuable time. The feminine touch will also probably do the gray Vion of the past years good.