AMSTERDAM: The supervisory board of ForFarmers N.V. nominates Theo Spierings as member of the Executive Board of ForFarmers for a period of one year, to be appointed by the general shareholders meeting.
An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (‘EGM’) will be convened for this, which is expected to take place in January 2023. Mr Spierings will start his activities on 1 January 2023 and upon his appointment will hold the position of Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’).
Theo Spierings (58) has significant experience in the agricultural sector. He started with a study in food technology at the HAS in Den Bosch (the Netherlands) and complemented this with an MBA from Glasgow University. He began his career at Friesland Foods in 1986, where he led the merger with Campina as CEO several years later.
Subsequently, from 2011 to 2019, Theo Spierings was CEO of Fonterra, the world player in the dairy industry located in New Zealand. Since then, he is helping companies transform and doing business in a sustainable manner. For this he launched The Purpose Factory. This consultancy firm focuses primarily on sustainably transforming enterprises operating in the agricultural sector.
Jan van Nieuwenhuizen, chairman of the supervisory board of ForFarmers: “We are extremely pleased to nominate Theo Spierings as CEO. He has impressive international experience in the dairy industry as well as great drive and expertise to help the agricultural sector be future proof and at the same time become more environmentally sustainable.
During his career he has led many transformations or advised on such processes. His energy and decisiveness and at the same time his focus on making connection with people around him, are characteristic of his way of working. We are of the opinion that Theo Spierings has the experience, expertise and personality to head up ForFarmers in its current phase.”
Theo Spierings: “I have always felt very involved with farmers and the agricultural sector, especially now. The agricultural sector is innovative and progressive and it plays an important role in the food chain. Not only in the Netherlands and Europe but certainly also worldwide. It is of great importance to optimise this chain and make it even more sustainable. I therefore look forward to taking on this task and helping to realise this.”
The proposed appointment of Theo Spierings relates to the departure of the current CEO.