Vion appoints new director of livestock
Currently working as sector manager of pig farming at Rabobank, Van Bergen will be joining Vion on 1 January 2019 and will be responsible for the operational management of the Farming department.
He will be tasked with speeding up the development of new concepts and strengthening the supply structure in the coming years. He will report directly to John de Jonge, who will take over the position of chief operations officer (COO) within Vion Pork from Frans Stortelder as of 1 January 2019.
COO of Vion Pork Frans Stortelder said: “Mr Van Bergen joins our organisation as a very experienced director, with a great knowledge of and specialisation in the pig farming supply chain. Due to his experience within Rabobank, we consider Mr Van Bergen to be perfectly suited for the further development of our supply organisation in the strategic direction we have chosen.”
This appointment comes as Vion said it expected the development of the structure of Dutch pig farming to accelerate in the years ahead. It predicted that the development of demand-driven supply chains would play an important part in this acceleration.
In a statement, a Vion spokesperson said: “Over the past few years, Vion has invested strongly in the development of demand-driven supply chains with the introduction of its innovative Good Farming concepts. Besides Good Farming Star (the pork concept with the 1 star Beter Leven label), Good Farming Organic (organic pork under the brand name De Groene Weg) and Good Farming Balance (pork for the international markets) are the leading supply chain concepts. Last year Robusto, a premium ham for the top segment of the European processed meat industry, was introduced at food trade fair Anuga.
“The pig farmer has a central position in Vion’s market approach. Vion sees it as its mission to ensure that every pig farmer/partner realises their optimal return objective. It is only under these conditions that a healthy future for pig farming in the Netherlands can be guaranteed.”
