Purchasing, procurement, supply chain as well as contract negotiation/structuring, interim management, due diligence.
Dec 2019 - Present
5 years 9 months
Hamburg, Germany
Freelancer and Industry Specialist
VORSPRUNG Advisory GmbH
Supporting the acquisition of investment opportunities.
Writing a commercial due diligence.
Advising a well-known German entrepreneurial family on an investment in a joint venture.
Consulting in specialized areas in the food sector.
Feb 2019 - Dec 2020
1 year 11 months
Regensburg, Germany
Head of Leasing and Procurement
transmed Transport GmbH
Leadership role in leasing and procurement for a total fleet of over 3,000 commercial vehicles—including several hundred pharma vehicles—company cars, several thousand scanners and over a thousand specialized checkout systems for pharmacies in three countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
Negotiated the best terms across the entire PHOENIX Group.
Integrated the scanner department and installed a system to prevent free usage.
Optimized processes and service levels for all branches.
Built a sustainable ready-to-lease vehicle stock for immediate leasing and to minimize unprofitable leasing gaps.
Apr 2017 - Jan 2019
1 year 10 months
Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Germany
Head of Procurement Strategy
Hipp-Werk Georg Hipp OHG
Newly created, cross-functional strategic role to develop a long-term procurement strategy for the entire Hipp Group and to build an international raw materials trading business.
Reviewed and assessed existing procurement systems and derived medium- and long-term measures.
Established an international organic grain trade with five-digit tonnage in the first season.
Launched a cross-departmental project to improve or replace existing sourcing channels and developed a long-term retention strategy for key and system-relevant suppliers.
Developed calculation models to assess whether direct investments in supplier systems or own cultivation and processing could secure more sustainable prices and quality—leading to pilot projects.
Created a multi-point plan with five focus areas for sustainable efficiency gains and annual savings potential in the millions.
Developed exclusive raw material sourcing channels to differentiate from competitors.
Led the project "Unique Selling Points of Hipp".
Core member of cross-departmental strategy projects "Implementation of Effective Project and Process Management" and "Improvement of Personnel Management".
Supported the creation of Europe's and possibly the world's largest organic agribusiness producer and ensured exclusive supply in infant nutrition.
Quickly built an international organic grain trade with five-digit tonnage in the first season.
Strategic advisor to an investor on building the world's largest agribusiness production facility for a specific raw material.
Sep 2012 - Mar 2017
4 years 7 months
Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Germany
Head of Raw Materials Purchasing including Production Logistics
Hipp-Werk Georg Hipp OHG
Led international procurement with a purchasing volume of approx. €300 million/year for seven production sites in five countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Switzerland, Russia) and managed production logistics for storage and supply of all raw materials.
Managed about 70 staff in strategic purchasing, agricultural management, project management, operational purchasing, purchasing controlling, master data management and production logistics.
Stabilized prices in a pure seller’s market amid rising specification requirements (lower thresholds and rejects) and growing demand in a tightening supply (organic boom).
Constant collaboration with sales/marketing and built a team of 10 project managers focused on new product development and product conversions.
Substantially improved performance through targeted training, hiring highly qualified staff and creating new strategic key positions.
Successfully integrated purchasing and quality assurance to foster shared responsibility across the value chain.
Introduced a cross-department priority system to more efficiently execute development projects and successfully launch new strategic assortments.
Focused each area on its core competencies.
Apr 2009 - Aug 2012
3 years 5 months
Grimma, Germany
Head of Procurement, Production and Bio Management and Sales for Airlines, Wholesale and Retail
Otto Maier GmbH, Caviale Srl/Venatus Holding GmbH
Led international procurement and oversaw three production sites (Germany, Italy) and sales for airlines, wholesale and retail.
Managed about 50 employees.
Deputy to the managing director.
Secured and expanded sustainable procurement including logistics.
Achieved certification under EU organic regulation, MSC, IFS at two sites.
Certified the world's largest sustainable sturgeon farm by "Friends of the Sea" in Italy.
Built MAP fresh fish packaging and logistics at one site for retail customers—first nationwide listing of a MAP fresh fish product in retail.
Established modern caviar processing including slaughter, caviar extraction, packaging, classification and international shipping system.
Developed marketing presence—eye-catching trade show booth and own online sales platform.
First nationwide listing of caviar in a special clear ball pack for a Christmas and New Year campaign in discount retail.
Developed a retail-ready combo pack: caviar, two vodka glasses and special sturgeon vodka.
Established a market for sturgeon meat and caviar by-products in Eastern Europe.
Main lead for all trade show events.
May 2008 - Oct 2008
6 months
Hamburg, Germany
Purchasing Director – Interim Manager for ZMM
Crustimex Seafood GmbH/HERISTO AG
Restructured the department and optimized processes.
Ensured open, transparent information flow and defined clear goals and values.
Improved collaboration between purchasing and sales, regaining footing in strategic lines and winning key tenders.
Centralized procurement for several HERISTO Group companies across different production and sales sites.
Improved the existing logistics concept.
Successfully onboarded a permanent successor.
Oct 2007 - Mar 2009
1 year 6 months
Management Buy-Out Advisor
Caviale Srl / Venatus Holding GmbH
Goal was to spin off several European aquaculture production sites for freshwater and marine fish from an international food group and merge with an existing European processing and marketing company.
Successfully converted a conventional trout farm into Europe’s largest organic trout farm under Naturland standards, aiming to become the world’s largest organic trout producer.
Formed a management team of existing and new experts to run the new company.
Oct 2005 - Sep 2007
2 years
Bremerhaven, Germany
Category Manager Fine Fish, Fresh Meat, Poultry and Strategic Assortments
Deutsche See GmbH
Led central and decentralized purchasing worldwide with an annual volume of approx. €90 million, closely integrated with production and responsible for sales in 11 branches.
Successfully merged two previously separate divisions.
Controlled product flow for cost and quality optimization.
Main contact for all internal and external technical and specialist questions.
Various TV appearances and print interviews.
Introduced new organic assortments and expanded non-fish range (meat and poultry, partly organic).
Member of the implementation group for "Improvement of Internal Processes".
Oct 2003 - Sep 2005
2 years
Bremerhaven, Germany
Category Manager Fine Fish
Deutsche See GmbH
Overall responsibility for supporting and training sales across 11 of 23 branches in southern and eastern Germany and strategic purchasing.
Led a team of approx. 25 and managed a purchasing and sales volume of about €50 million.
First-time integration of purchasing and sales.
Acquired over 50 Michelin-starred chefs and multiplied sales in high-end gastronomy.
Introduced several exclusive products to the German market.
Advanced the entire value chain from procurement to customer (costs, quality, processes, service).
Achieved double-digit annual sales growth.
Organized internal and external training events, panel discussions, trade show presentations, joint events with wholesale, retail and end customers.
Various TV appearances and print interviews.
Co-initiator and speaker for a paid weekly lecture at Bremerhaven University for internal and external training ("University of Fish").
Jan 2000 - Sep 2003
3 years 9 months
Bremerhaven, Germany
Purchasing Manager Fine Fish
Deutsche See GmbH
Full responsibility for global purchasing and import of fine fish with approx. €30 million annual volume.
First direct personnel responsibility for four purchasing staff and partial responsibility for 12 production staff.
Secured supply while improving and stabilizing quality.
Key role in building the fine fish production facility.
Organized product lines into "SELECT" (new launches), "DAILY", "MR.STEAM" for customer clarity.
Revived the salmon business by introducing special qualities and exclusive fresh (e.g. "Ikarimi") and smoked (e.g. "Arctic Rose") salmon.
Achieved mid-double-digit annual sales growth.
Multiplied sales in strategic assortments.
Significantly improved efficiency and service levels.
Helped reorganize and restructure the production facility.
Contributed to the successful introduction of new ERP systems for purchasing (Proplan) and production (Prostore).
Sep 1998 - Dec 1999
1 year 4 months
Bremerhaven, Germany
Junior Manager in Purchasing (Trainee Program)
Deutsche See GmbH
Purchased fresh fish focusing on Scandinavia with a double-digit million annual volume.
Sole departmental responsibility during manager’s absence.
Member of the "SAP Retail/3" implementation group.
Jan 1997 - Apr 1998
1 year 4 months
Dietlikon, Switzerland
Analyst for Market Penetration Analyses
Datacolor AG
Designed Europe-wide market penetration analyses and independently delivered on-time market reports for 12 European countries.
Greatly simplified the assessment of market potentials in each country.
Dec 1996 - Sep 1998
1 year 10 months
Würzburg, Germany
Organizer and Trainer of Exam Prep Courses
Fischereiverband Unterfranken e.V.
Organized and trained exam prep courses for 300–400 participants per year.
Provided consulting and written assessments.
Improved trainee success rates in state exams through better training concepts.
Successfully advised associations.
Sep 1995 - Sep 1998
3 years 1 month
Würzburg, Germany
Consultant
Sunnmøre-Lachs
Production, processing and quality control with multiple stays in Norway.
Acquired new customers and managed existing accounts.
Co-led the build-up of logistics.
Ongoing consulting.
Acquired over 40 new customers.
Reduced cost of goods through production optimization.
Implemented a cost-saving logistics concept.
Cut complaints significantly by creating an action plan.
Summary
Strategic procurement management while handling daily operations
Wide range of leadership experience from operational staff to manager
Over 30 years of international purchasing and logistics experience
Nearly 30 years of sales expertise with wholesale, retail and end customers
Extensive experience in project and process management
Assertiveness in negotiations
Good interpersonal skills and assessment of people and their motivation
IT support in operational purchasing, logistics and production
Solid knowledge in production, development, controlling and quality assurance
Strong analytical and conceptual thinking skills
Action-oriented implementation
Confident handling of public media and their representatives
High resilience and willingness to perform
Social skills combined with strong teamwork and communication abilities
High mobility and flexibility
Languages
German
Native
English
Advanced
French
Intermediate
Italian
Elementary
Education
Oct 1990 - Sep 1998
TU Munich-Weihenstephan
Dipl.-Ing. in Agricultural Science · Agricultural Science · Freising, Germany · very good (1.4)
Oct 1990 - Sep 1998
Humboldt University Berlin
Master of Science in Ichthyology · Ichthyology · Berlin, Germany