Dutch Food Company Vion Is Set to Separate Its Food and Ingredients Businesses

Dutch food company Vion is set to separate its Food and Ingredients businesses, as part of its efforts to achieve full operational, organisational and legal independence for the entities.

The moves comes after the company's divestments of the food activities in the UK and the sale of a number of non-core business activities including Oerlemans Foods.

The company said that the latest decision has been taken as both the Food and Ingredients businesses serve their own markets and clients, face their own challenges and adhere to their own company strategies.

The independent Food business will focus on achieving the considerable restoration of results through reorganizations in the Netherlands and Germany, and the Ingredients segment will seek the help of a shareholder to achieve further development and growth, according to the company.

VION Food, which employs approximately 14,000 people, focuses on the pork and beef markets in the Netherlands and Germany. VION Ingredients is active with a wide range of companies which manufacture products such as gelatine, proteins and fats from slaughterhouse by-products and employs approximately 6,000 people.

In November 2012, Vion announced that it will be returning to its core markets, focussing entirely on its food operations in the Netherlands and Germany and on its global ingredients business. On 23 January, the company announced proposed plans to restructure the organisation of VION Head Office in Eindhoven and VION ICT Services in the Netherlands.

Following the separation, Ingredients division will continue to be led by its CEO Dirk Kloosterboer, while the Food division will be led by interim CEO Stefaan Vansteenkiste until a new CEO is appointed in the near future.