ON A JOURNEY TO VALUE

Gerhard Kriel, CEO of the MPO

For me, the fundamental principle of a producer organisation is to serve the interests of the members. The Milk Producers Organisation (MPO) structure is now streamlined to do so effectively.

We are now in the middle of a regional visit to producers in the various MPO regions during which appointments are made with producers, milk buyers, and processors.

The purpose of these visits is for me to meet our members and establish open communication networks. It is a privilege to meet familiar faces again and to engage in new business relationships. Determining issues that members wrestle with is the more important factor. It is interesting that the different regions, and even groups within regions, consider different issues as important.

I am listening and plan to list all the issues that arise, drawing up an action plan accordingly to give the necessary attention where needed. It will be necessary to prioritise and decide with the board of directors what the top priorities are. We want to identify the golden thread that runs through all the issues. Yet, we need to be careful not to reduce them to an average and therefore not making an impact. We have already visited a few places in the Northern region and Eastern Cape, and this week, we conclude the first of regular visits to Natal. Next week, we will visit the Western Cape and then some more of the members in the Northern region.

We want to make sure that our members see the value of the MPO, but more importantly, that we care and make it our main task to serve members’ interests.

Regards,

Gerhard Kriel

Chief executive, MPO