MENSCHEN TITLE THEME
MENSCHEN TITLE THEME price crisis is an international problem, not a purely French one. The dismantling of quotas, globalization, influences of highly fluctuating export markets, the Russia embargo, the visible correlation between prices for raw materials and agricultural products, a certain speculative influence through big investors for land and foodstuffs – especially now, a lot of unsuitable influences come together. And naturally, don’t let’s forget the peculiarity, especially in France, that the traditional great importance put in food and farming within the population is substantially crumbling. XtraBlatt: : Thereby the French, with over 15 %, still give nearly double as much out for food compared with, for example, the Germans … Foucher: Yes, this is a fact. And many farmers have specialized in niches such as cheese production, as well as direct marketing. In such cases, they achieve substantially better profitability for their milk, as shown by the example in this XtraBlatt issue. However, this is not a solution for everyone in agriculture. In France too, the discounters are on the advance. This change in values is already serious and an additional emotional element in the discussion. Differently from Germany, I reckon here in France we have fewer farmers with jobs or incomes from outside agriculture. Therefore, here the price crisis represents a greater threat to livelihood for farmers. XtraBlatt: In other words, no good perspectives for farm machinery sales? Foucher: No, I wouldn’t formulate the situation as baldly as that. Certainly, the structural change is massive. However, the farmland is still with us, and it continues to be farmed. This is why Germany and France are, and will remain, the strongest farm agricultural machinery The headquarters of Krone France SAS in St. Arnoult-en-Yvelines. markets in Europe. However, in France too, the customers change and so do their farms and thus their requirements for machinery and advice. Over and above this, agricultural contractor businesses, of which there already are some 2,500, increase still further in importance in forage harvesting. It is crucial that these businesses are serviced by agricultural machinery dealerships, as well as by the sales organizations of the manufacturers! For this reason, the trend towards bigger, higher performance and more complex machinery also offers opportunities in the market. Especially during periods when business is weak, as now, it’s important to plan correctly for future progress. XtraBlatt: Is this why Krone has decided to end its cooperation with Amazone France and to establish its own sales company in France? Foucher: The work done together with Amazone France functioned very well over decades, and very successfully too! However, because in general customer requirements, and technical complexity, have increased so much and continue to increase, it’s no longer possible to position and support the products of both brands with the necessary intensity through a single organization. With Krone France SAS, launched officially on July 1 2016, we are now going absolutely our own way. XtraBlatt: What does this mean in concrete terms? Foucher: Firstly, it means the development of our own subsidiary company complete with sales and service team. 12
A proportion of French farms remain small in area. A reduction of up to 20 % in dairy farm numbers is expected by 2020. The new location is in St. Arnoult-en-Yvelines, around 50 km southwest of Paris. The buildings that we’ve taken over are partly rebuilt, so that we have the best possibilities for sales and service. Alone for the spare parts store and logistics there’s 3000 m 2 available, and a further 2000 m 2 for service and training activities. And of course let’s not forget the machinery show areas and administration. Our team has been able to achieve much in the last months. Altogether, we’re training 35 colleagues currently, as the basis for our work. The target envisaged for the end of November 2016 is a total 45 people and I think that we will achieve this. XtraBlatt: Keyword service: What plans exist for spare parts supply? This is certainly a central success factor, especially during the forage harvesting season … » For Krone, France is one of the three most important markets. « Joël Foucher Foucher: No, definitely not! With Amazone and Krone working together in the past we managed to achieve a very good job. This means we have a good dealership network as well as good market share for our machinery. Naturally, there will be changes in the sales and service partnership structure in some regions. Hereby, the primary aim is to close holes in our coverage, above all building on the type and intensity of cooperation with the trade. Completing this development won’t be a short-term job, more a long-term process. Parallel to this, our own field staff is set to expand, to begin with, from the current eight colleagues to an expected twelve, later fourteen. XtraBlatt: And what is your turnover and units sales target for 2020? Foucher: Correct. The logistics for spare parts for 2016 remain with the Amazone sales company until November. This is to avoid the complications of a change in midseason. From then on, we in St. Arnoult-en-Yvelines will take over the baton and supply our dealerships directly. From the already mentioned buildings area no less than two-thirds is reserved for spare parts, beginning with a stock of around 15,000 part positions. This is almost double the number available in past years. XtraBlatt: Are you also starting from zero in the dealership network? Foucher (smiling): It would be presumptuous to give concrete figures at a time such as now when we can foresee the years ahead for neither the milk and meat prices nor the development of the agricultural machinery market. However, with the right intensity of marketing and a halfways favorable framework situation, I think a doubling of turnover within five years is certainly possible. For Krone, France is already, together with the USA and Germany, one of its three most important markets. But we’ve still got a long way to go … 13
