Whenever I speak with directors in the agri-food sector, one thing always strikes me: almost everyone feels the pace of change speeding up. Recently, I sat with the director of a mid-sized food company in his office garden. Coffee on the table, folders pushed aside. “Wilko,” he said, “it feels like everything is changing at the same time. Climate rules, logistics, sustainability… even our customers don’t always know what they want.”

A sector in constant motion

I smiled, not because he was wrong, but because I’d heard almost the exact same sentence several times that month. We walked through the challenges together. He talked about stricter sustainability demands, new machines that suddenly run on data, and consumers who seem more critical every year.  “In the past, it was enough to have your processes in order,” he said. “Now you have to be digitally smart, understand your entire chain and switch faster than ever.”

Why traditional career paths no longer guarantee future leaders

I could only agree. Everything that used to be stable is now shifting. And that creates new pressure on leadership. When I asked him about internal talent, he sighed.
“We have good people, truly. But they grew up in a completely different time. They are used to clarity and predictable rhythms. And now we need leaders who can handle uncertainty and dare to look ahead.”

New perspectives, new solutions

That’s something I hear often. For years, the sector promoted people based on craftsmanship and experience. But today’s demands are broader: strategic thinking, digital skills, an understanding of sustainability and a wider view of the market. “Maybe I need someone with a fresh perspective,” he said quietly, almost as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to think it. He hesitated for a moment, then added: “I’m starting to believe our next leaders might not have to come from our own sector. Someone from retail or logistics may be exactly what we need.”  That caught my attention. Because it’s exactly the trend we see everywhere: new perspectives bring new solutions.

How HR can respond

We talked about what this means for HR.  “It starts with the role profiles,” I said. “They must reflect today’s reality. Not just what someone has done, but what someone is capable of.”
He nodded. His HR team is already working on leadership development and internal mobility. But some expertise is still hard to find  especially digital skills, change management and international experience.

A story he never forgot

He told me about a company he knew well.  “They hired a CEO from the tech world. I thought: this will never work. But within a year they had a new brand strategy, new packaging and the whole plant was running on renewable energy.”  We both laughed, it was the perfect understatement.

So what now?

As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked him what he thought his next step should be. “I need to take a sharp look at the leadership of the future,” he said. “Who do I really need to guide this company into the next phase? And how do I make sure they can land here  and grow here?”  A beautiful conclusion, I thought. Because that is the challenge in the agri-food sector today: finding leaders who can handle complexity and aren’t afraid to innovate.  And it always starts with a good conversation  just like the one we had that morning.

Warm regards,
Wilko Grievink
📱 +31 6 553 622 53
✉️ wilko.grievink@hightouchglobal.com