Vion Food Group has appointed Thomas Beermann as the new Managing Director of its site in Crailsheim, the group’s only mixed plant for cattle and pig slaughtering in Germany.
As of 1 June this year, Vion will be handing over the management of the Crailsheim abattoir to new hands. Thomas Beermann will succeed Rainer Hartmann, who is leaving the company at his own request after 26 years to take up new challenges in the industry. Hartmann, who was previously managing director of the Vion beef plant in Waldkraiburg, moved to Crailsheim as managing director in 2022.
Now, 40-year-old Thomas Beermann is taking over the management baton. The “new man” at the helm of Vion in Crailsheim comes from Westphalia and has lived in Middle Franconia for 20 years. After working for two years at Vion’s Altenburg abattoir, he joined the sales team at the Crailsheim site in 2010 and then took over as Beef Sales Manager and Production Manager in the deboning department. With further management experience as Beef Sales Manager and Key Account Manager at Vion in Buchloe, Thomas Beermann took over overall responsibility for the Beef & Pork divisions in Crailsheim at the beginning of 2024, before the company appointed him as the new Managing Director there. This puts him in charge of Germany’s most successful mixed plant, which can produce 110,000 tonnes of pork and 45,000 tonnes of beef per year. More than 50 per cent of the fresh meat produced is marketed in the region, to local food retailers, butchers, caterers and regional industry. Almost 30 per cent of the meat produced in Crailsheim is exported.
“We are delighted to be able to place the responsibility for our Crailsheim site in the hands of Thomas Beermann, a proven expert from our own ranks. With his outstanding experience, particularly in sales, he will continue Rainer Hartmann’s successful work in a responsible and highly qualified manner,” says Philippe Thomas, COO Germany of Vion.