After almost eleven years at the helm of Vion Zucht und Nutzvieh GmbH, Dr Holger Looft will leave the management of the Vion subsidiary at the end of this year. Ole Meyer, Director Purchase Cattle Vion Germany, will take over the duties at the head of the German livestock trading organization.
Holger Looft, who holds a doctorate in agricultural engineering, joined Vion Zucht und Nutzvieh (ZuN) in 2013 from the British breeding and genetics consultancy PIC and has successfully maintained and developed the company during this time despite strong competition and declining cattle livestock numbers. With the takeover of Viehhandlung Hausner, Dr. Looft transferred the processes of two separate companies into the Vion system and was able to leverage significant synergies by centralising their processes. In 2023, he also transferred the slaughter cattle volume of Vion’s livestock trading subsidiary to contract slaughtering in the region.
Vion appointed Ole Meyer (32) as a successor to the management of ZuN. He “grew up” in his grandparents’ livestock business and a cattle slaughterhouse founded by his grandfather. The business administration graduate with a master’s degree in leadership and management took on various management roles in the industry early on before joining Vion in 2019. He has been Purchasing Manager for the Bamberg slaughterhouse since 2020 and was appointed Germany-wide Director Purchase Cattle in autumn 2023. In his new additional role, Ole Meyer will also report to Dr. Stephan Kruse, Director Farming at Vion Food Group.
“During this recent period of drastic change, the entire ZuN team under the leadership of Holger Looft has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the company,” says Philippe Thomas, COO Germany at Vion Food Group. “With this in mind, we would like to thank not only the entire team, but especially Dr Looft – for his successful work and outstanding commitment and wish him all the best for the future. In Ole Meyer, we have found an exceptionally experienced internal successor who will successfully continue Dr. Looft’s work”.