Three become two: Simon Walter, Léon Broers and retiree Paul Degreef (from left).
Change in the BU management
“Opportunities to shape the future”
After four years, Paul Degreef is handing over the reins at the Business Unit Vegetables to Léon Broers and Simon Walter. Léon Broers has been part of the leadership tandem since last year, and Simon Walter has now joined it. In this interview, they talk about successes, plans for the future and the vital virtue of patience.
How would you describe the development of the BU Vegetables in the first four years?
Paul Degreef: In most of the cases we are as advanced as we were planning to be. The first thing was to build up our own breeding programs by finding the right people with the right KWS spirit, which means: team players. We managed that all over the world – despite Covid! – and now we have a team of 240-250 people, not including farm workers. Another important aspect was to build breeding stations at targeted locations, which we also managed except in India and China. And we achieved some activities in licensing and important milestones in making acquisitions. Both Geneplanta in Italy and Pop Vriend Seeds in the Netherlands are integrated and positioned for the future. With Pop Vriend we became market leader in spinach and market leader in beans right from the start. Red beet will progress, tomato as well – Geneplanta already has tomatoes on the market in Mexico, Brazil, Turkey and the Mediterranean.
Léon Broers: But there is still a lot to do and to achieve in the next five to ten years. In 2027/2028 I would like to see the first sales as planned from our own proprietary breeding programs. That is, for me, a critical milestone, and I'm pretty sure we are going to reach that.
“THE KEY THING FOR OUR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IS PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE.”
Paul Degreef
How would you describe our position in the market now?
Paul Degreef: When we started four years ago and wanted to license in, competitors asked what we could offer. The answer was “nothing.” Now they have seen how much we are hiring and expanding and are open to starting a discussion with us.
Léon Broers: And don't underestimate the name KWS. It's known as a very trustworthy company.
Simon Walter: At the same time, we need to manage expectations. If anybody was looking for big black figures in the first couple of years, that was the wrong expectation. It's very important that everybody understands that. You can compare it to other endeavors which we have taken on: Rapeseed, for example, started to deliver in the last couple of years. We’ll experience the same in our sunflower business. It will take time, but in the end the BU Vegetables will deliver as well.
Léon Broers, why did you decide to become part of this journey in 2022, after having been a member of the Executive Board for many years before?
Léon Broers: There are of course a lot of changes when you step down from a position where you have basically the opportunity to influence a lot from the highest level to a position where you need to adapt to a more operative role and basically sit on the other side of the table. Why I did it? It's kind of a boy's dream. What other company would start a business from scratch that will take fifteen years before it will earn money? That’s only possible if you have a shareholder family who is thinking in terms of generations.
A large part of the vegetable activities are controlled from Wageningen. In the picture: Jeroen Rombout, technical assistant for double haploid production.
What about you, Simon Walter: Why did you decide to become part of the BU Vegetables and leave the BU Corn Europe?
Simon Walter: First of all, I want to make clear that I have decided for vegetables and not against corn. Both jobs are super attractive and provide incredible opportunities. What I find interesting is that parts of our vegetable business are still in a startup phase. It’s incredible what Paul has been developing since 2019, and this has to be continued at full speed. There are a lot of opportunities to shape the future. To be part of that was the tipping point for taking the decision.
Would you say that both BUs are comparable?
Simon Walter: BU Corn Europe is from the perspective of staffing level in Europe the largest organization within the KWS group and very mature, but also still in a growth phase when it comes to certain segments like grain corn and sunflower. On the other hand BU Vegetables is at full speed in the build-up and growing phase. And still: Vegetables are very different from most field crops we have at KWS – not only corn – especially in the sense of market dynamics, volatility of the different segments, customers and the speed of breeding.
Léon Broers: I agree. The volatility of individual groups is much larger. As a balancing act, you need to have a broader portfolio because you’ll always have fluctuations in turnover and profit.
What will be crucial to achieving our future goals?
Paul Degreef: Building further on what we already have achieved – by consolidating, finetuning and building new breeding programs. The key thing for that is people, people, people. And – very important – KWS will have to establish its own sales and marketing and R&D network for vegetables. Product managers and breeders are a king’s pair here.
Simon Walter: Exactly. We are not approaching the same end customers as with our sales and marketing in the field crops. When it comes to corn, for example, it’s very clear what customers want: yield, yield and yield under all conditions. In vegetables customer demands are different from segment to segment or even within the same segment: We need to take into account not only the grower but the whole value chain from growing to selling. And that makes the link between the customer and R&D so important. If you miss out on that one, you might have strong products, but in a segment without demand.
Léon Broers: It’s not only making good products but also the right products. There is an intimacy between breeding, product management and marketing and sales to know the markets and their different needs which can then be translated into required products.
With our Fruiting Crops (tomato, pepper, cucumber, melon and watermelon) we are on the right track.
What do you mean when you say that BU Vegetables is like a startup within a larger company?
Léon Broers: It’s a startup kind of environment, which leaves a lot of space for entrepreneurial thinking and doing and building – especially in this protected startup, being part of KWS. It’s actually the greatest form of a startup you can imagine – which does not mean that the BU Vegetables can afford everything. What we are aiming for is that Vegetables will contribute to the success of KWS.
Simon Walter: We even see this startup-kind of environment within the BU itself. We have Pop Vriend, which is very mature when it comes to spinach and beans, basically protecting and (re-)gaining strength in the market position. And on the other side we have the fruiting vegetables – tomato, pepper, cucumber, melon and watermelon – which are fully under development. This mix is great because it gives a cross pollination within the organization.
Léon Broers: At the same time having acquired Pop Vriend right from the start leads to our story being taken very, very seriously by the outside world, making it easier to get good people on board.
Paul Degreef, you’ll retire after more than 25 years in the vegetables business. What did you enjoy the most, what are your future plans and what will you be missing?
Paul Degreef: Well, I’ve gotten around quite a lot. The nice thing in our job is that we are always outside of the cities in beautiful landscapes. I remember a fifteen-hour drive to a breeding station in the Himalayas – so nice! Same as Mexico, China or the highlands of Indonesia. But whenever people ask where I would like to live, my answer is: in my home country, the Netherlands. I don’t have any plans for the future, really, and I’m not the guy for missing anything. I have many interests – reading, gardening – and will enjoy having time for that. I’ve always enjoyed my working life since 1986, having been able to be a part of this big thing. I’m just grateful that I was given the opportunity to do this – and confident that the journey will continue for KWS. |
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