Campina to Restructure

White groups (Campina Netherlands, Campina Germany and Campina International) to be com-bined to form one single effective commercial organisation.

07/07/05 Campina is to strengthen its competitiveness and innovative capacity by creating a new, still more effective organisational form. The core of the new organisation will be the combined ‘white groups’: Campina Netherlands, Campina Germany and Campina International. The bundling op-eration is a powerful response to the increasingly strong position of European trading partners and fiercer European competition. The new structure also provides the best possible opportuni-ties for upscaling and acceleration of international product innovations. In the new structure, Campina’s commercial activities will be pursued by: Consumer Products Europe (the combined ‘white’ groups), Cheese & Butter and Industrial Products. For the time being, the reorganisation will only affect staff in indirect jobs: i.e. office staff.

Consumer Products Europe (CPE) will have an international organisational structure and manage-ment team. B.C. (Bert) Jansen, a member of the Executive Board of Campina BV, will steer CPE. Jansen will retain his seat on the Executive Board but will focus mainly on CPE. The other members of the CPE management team are W.A.M. (Wouter) de Bruijn, E. (Erik) De Cock, M.M.G.M. (Mar-tien) van den Hoven, K.N. (Norbert) Reuss and A.E. (Arnout) Traas.
CPE will consist of the following pillars:
- Branded Consumer Products: ‘White’ dairy products under the Campina, Landliebe and Mona brands in the Netherlands and Germany. Responsible: W. de Bruijn.
- Dairy Consumer Products: ‘White’ dairy products under private label in the Netherlands and Germany. Responsible: E. De Cock.
- CPE International: ‘White’ activities in the UK, Russia, the Baltic states, Spain, Greece, Bel-gium/France and Romania. Responsible: M. van den Hoven.
- Supply Chain: The production organisation for the added value products of CPE. Responsible: N. Reuss.
- Finance: Met the disciplines Controlling, Accounting and Information Technology. Responsible: A. Traas.

CPE will focus on European markets. As a result, the ‘white’ activities outside Europe will be trans-ferred within Campina. Direct Exports Overseas (including the Middle East, South America and Africa) will be relocated to the Industrial Products group, as will the activities of Campina in Asian growth markets (Thailand and Vietnam).

Another organisational change relates to the organisation of the following support functions at Campina (such as national HR, Non Product Related Purchasing and the Consumer Goods Act/Environmental Affairs). In Germany and Belgium, certain support functions cover all groups in the relevant country. This procedure will now be followed for the entire business. Campina plans to bring together support staff in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the rest of Europe who are not deployed for corporate activities in Service Centres. A Service Centre Netherlands, a Service Centre Germany and a Service Centre International will be set up. The support staff will work for all groups in the relevant country/region, making maximum use of the knowledge and skills avail-able in the company.

The trade unions and works councils have been notified and involved in the process where neces-sary. The redesign of the organisation will proceed as quickly as possible after consultation of/recommendations from the works councils. For the time being, the new organisational form will have consequences for office workers only. It will lead to transfers and relocations for some of these staff. The number that will be affected is not yet known.