STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 35 odd [as a regional office location]," Neumann told STiR. "For instance, it is a lot closer from Hamburg to Nairobi than it is from the northeastern coast of the United States to Brazil. Also, the office in Nairobi and their CEO represent a regional office for the NKG operations in eastern Africa – and that office will in turn continue reporting to NG in Hamburg." Streamlining Leadership at Headquarters Changes are also underway at NKG's Hamburg headquarters to improve agility and efficiency and bring back to the forefront the key advantages NKG enjoys in comparison to its direct competitive peers. Until the end of 2024, the Board of Man- agement consisted of four directors and four executive mem- bers; a total of 8 individuals. But as of January/February 2025, this board is reduced and regrouped into a board of directors comprising only three members, namely: David M. Neumann as group chief executive officer (CEO), Maren Uzarek as group chief people officer (CPO); and Justin Schulze-Smidt as group chief financial officer (CFO). However, the former executive board members will continue with NG as leaders in their re- spective fields of expertise. The revised structure simplifies leadership and strengthens the focus on strategic priorities, operational excellence, and em- ployee-centric values. The board of directors will be at the core of NKG's governance. Its work will be substantially enhanced through being joined by the regional CEOs in the new NKG Executive Board. "We will discuss and deliberate all topics defined by the par- ticipants, whether strategic and practical, business and others," di- vulged Mr. Neumann. "The regional CEOs will have their forum to which they bring their significant coffee and business acumen and they are an active part of all discussions and deliberations, enabling and supporting the board of directors' decisions." Restructuring the Direct Result of Global Changes In the past years, numerous changes in the world occurred, not just in coffee. Those changes affected the challenges and work at NKG. "While the previous tone at NKG had been to go ahead and keep on doing what we do best–growing coffee from year to year, we now see ourselves confronted with a much more complex reality," explained Neumann. "Doing a great job at buying, milling, selling and moving [our] coffee is not enough anymore. At NKG, we have already worked on this intensely and adapted to these complex times in many ways. But still, we need to further integrate the context and changes we experience in our strategic as well as very practical approach, reflecting it in our organizational structure, the people leading the way, and the culture we live at NKG. And as NKG has grown in volume, in people, in risk, we need to grow with it." To grow in agility and speed and create better efficiencies, to grow in business and control costs, to create operative discipline and enhance operative excellence, NKG needed to change how the group was led, where it was lead, and how many people are responsible overall. In this context, there arose "a need to be clear, transparent and strict with ourselves," according to Neu- mann. Those necessary developments, he said, led to evolving professional requirements and job descriptions. "It became clear during many discussions with colleagues from all over the world that the hitherto management setup, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) is a globally operating green coffee service group, focusing on coffee only. In more than 60 companies in 28 countries, more than 3,300 highly skilled employees are active in the sectors Export & Milling, Import, Farming, Agents & Representative Offices, and Services. For further information please contact: Neumann Gruppe GmbH communications@nkg.coffee Tel.: +49 40 36123-0 Sponsored Content where almost all major decisions were taken by a large group of people in Hamburg, lacked agility and speed; and it was not the best way forward. The group needed to delegate, entrust and empower more, allowing decisions to be made within a simpler, leaner organizational structure. The developments in Hamburg as well as in other regions of the world provided part of the answers NKG sought. The changes that occurred are the begin- ning of a cultural shift, according to Neumann. "They are a pro- cess that will take time, not a project with a due date. They have no other reason than for us to become more efficient and sup- port the companies of NKG in their operational excellence." Decades in the Making The restructuring decision didn't come out of the blue or over- night, of course. Far from it. Over the more than 35 years of NKG's existence as a group of companies, a strong sense of center had been created, with NG at the very core of every- thing. But in today's world, which seems to be moving away from global centers to a certain extent, that setup had become somewhat cumbersome and overly bureaucratic. Unlike most of its competitors, and thanks to the restructur- ing, NKG and NG will now be able to have all decision-making power at one table, the Board of Directors. "This means less hub and spoke, less operative work in Hamburg and more time to concentrate on what is important strategically and philosoph- ically to drive us forward as a decades-long world market leader as well as one of the few single-commodity suppliers left in the world," Neumann said. And shorter supply chain paths, fewer involved people and clear dedication to service and creating val- ue for stake-and shareholders in a world in which the risks are growing, margins are shrinking and commitment is wavering in some places, can only be of benefit to NG and NKG alike. NKG's newly formed board of directors; from left to right: Maren Uzarek, Justin Schulze-Smidt, David M. Neumann. Photo courtesy: Neumann Kaffee Gruppe

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