Kristophe Thijs, director of Germany for VLAM since 2011, will leave the sector on October 15. He ended up at VLAM Germany during the tense EHEC crisis. "It was quite a tough start, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people quickly. Suddenly, working together closely across the border, which had never worked before, became matter of course. We were frequently around the table with Germany and the Netherlands, and set up a successful campaign towards the consumer. We were able to win back the consumer's trust in fresh vegetables in the short term. That was the largest challenge in recent years."
Respect for the fruit and vegetable sector
He summarises his opinion on the fruit and vegetable sector in one word: respect. "Respect for the animation, passion and perseverance of growers, auctions and exporters. I don't think that's thought about enough. The sector has always been very open and communicative to me, with mutual trust. By joining together we were able to effectuate an added value and it always felt this way in the German retail."
Stable partner
During his presence at VLAM a lot was achieved in Germany. "Going into detail about this would be telling. But the turnover figures show that we have been a stable partner for the Germans for years. And this is despite killer competition. A questionnaire we had done two years ago showed that the brand Flandria is known to 98% of German buyers. A figure like this can only be realised with driven presence politics, intensive campaigns and close contact with those buyers. It is also a brand that radiates trust and the Germans don't have to be convinced of the quality of the products."
Quality to value
Kristophe believes that Germany along with France will always be the main export country and VLAM wants to continue to play into this in coming years. "When I started with VLAM Germany was a market that was very focussed on price, but I increasingly get the feeling they know how to calculate quality to value. This offers opportunities we will have to play into. The goal has to be to continue to grow, but the trend 'regional' is a threat in this area. This is despite often being closer as a neighbouring country to NRW than if the product were coming from Hamburg or Bavaria." He says there are still enough opportunities in Germany. "Because the average self sufficiency in the vegetable sector in Germany is around 75%, there is still a huge gap to fill. It doesn't look like this will change any time soon. The chances are certainly there, but every retailer has his own wishes and demands. It will be a challenge to meet them. The German retail wants to remain distinctive from each other on the shelves. Not so much on a price level, but certainly in the area of the product offered. To play into this, the ties need to be strengthened. Traders need to know what's there."
Export of Conference doubled
In recent years the focus on Germany as an export country has been strengthened. "That focus has always been there, but with the successful Conference campaign it is perhaps more apparent. That campaign taught me that you can add value to a product by intensively introducing the consumer to it. The retail follows the demand of the consumer. Our export of Conference to Germany has now more than doubled and the pear has once again achieved a permanent place on many shelves. If we can do this with Conference, it can be done with other (quite exclusive) products."
Attractive job
Before his period at VLAM he worked as a communication and marketing manager for Nutreco when there was a lot going on internally. At the time VLAM was looking for a successor to former director for Germany Paul Coenen, who was retiring. There were a few conversations and we quickly came to an agreement. I had some experience on the German market before Nutreco and this made the switch easier." He sees his period with VLAM as positive. "Because VLAM works in the various sectors of agriculture it makes the job very attractive. One week your focus is on the meat branch, the next it's just fruit and vegetables and then you're dealing with the floriculture. It also gave the opportunity to meet a lot of people, as you don't just have to be familiar with the intricacies of the Belgian market and the Belgian export companies, but also everything that is going on in Germany. Working closely with the German retail, setting up campaigns, going out with journalists, attending fairs and congresses, you name it. The years have flown by."
Highlights
He continues: "The successful campaign to put the Conference pear on the map again in Germany, the extended collaboration with the German retail focussed on the Flandria product and more or less stabilising our meat export on a market that is self sufficient are the highlights for me. The respect for the work that I did that I got from the various sectors, still gives me a lot of satisfaction. You have a job as a bridge builder and have to make sure that the foundations of that bridge are strong enough for everyone to use them." He says the learning experience was quite intense: "It went from negotiating in German, to strategy determination to winning trust, VLAM has the task of promoting the Flemish agricultural products, but at the same time must keep as neutral a role as possible."
Successor Koen Vanswijgenhoven
He sees the closure of the VLAM offices abroad in the interest of savings as a downside. "You can't be happy about that, as we do work in an export focused business, but at the same time they are trying to operate everything from Brussels. My successor Koen Vanswijgenhoven will have a challenge in this area." Kristophe is leaving VLAM to become director of Communication and spokesperson for the Federation for Real Estate in Belgium. He is leaving the fruit and vegetable industry completely.