Danish Crown is replacing its multi-business-unit model with a more integrated organisation as it seeks to expand value-added processing, concentrate on key European markets and make better use of its manufacturing, commercial and product development capabilities.
The restructuring represents a significant change in how the meat group will operate and how effectively it can generate value from the livestock supplied by its cooperative owners.
Seven of the company’s eight business units—Sokołów, Beef, Industry, Foods, KLS, UK and ESS-FOOD—will be combined within the new structure. DAT-Schaub, which manages the marketing and sale of by-products, will continue to operate as an independent business unit.
Danish Crown describes the move as the latest phase of a wider transformation intended to simplify the organisation, improve valorisation, strengthen its brands, sharpen market focus and reduce operating costs. The strategy reflects broader food manufacturing trends, including greater investment in processing, product differentiation and supply chain efficiency.
“We need to be able to drive change and execute effectively across the entire company, ensuring that every part of the business supports the strategy and contributes to maximising the value of every animal we receive from our owners,” says Group CEO Niels Ulrich Duedahl.
One organisation built around shared capabilities
The reorganisation moves Danish Crown away from a model in which individual businesses have largely managed their activities separately.
Under the new approach, manufacturing, sales and product development resources will operate across the integrated organisation. Danish Crown expects this to help the group use its scale more effectively, while reducing duplication between business units, markets and national operations.
“We are building an organisation based on a very clear principle: Danish Crown is one company,” says Duedahl. “At the same time, the new structure represents an important step towards increasing our competitiveness.”
The latest changes follow a restructuring announced in June, when the company consolidated its Group Functions. That earlier programme was forecast to generate approximately DKK 500 million in efficiency gains over two to three years, while eliminating around 800 roles across the international organisation during the same period.
Danish Crown expects the new organisation to be fully operational within six months. The integration will also create a stronger platform for responding to food and beverage industry trends, including changing customer requirements, tighter margins and increased demand for efficient food processing technology.
Creating more value from every animal
The central commercial objective is to increase valorisation, meaning the amount of additional value Danish Crown creates from the meat supplied by its owners.
At present, the company estimates that further processing and related value creation account for approximately 25% of owner-supplied meat. Danish Crown aims to raise that proportion to 50% by the end of 2030.
Achieving this target will require a stronger focus on processing, innovation, branded products and tailored customer solutions. It also signals a move away from depending primarily on the sale of less processed meat.
The direction is already evident in Danish Crown’s beef operation.
Finn Klostermann, CEO of Danish Crown Beef for the past 12 years, will leave the business at the end of 2026. Beef will join the new organisation but remain a separate legal entity with its existing ownership model, owner services and profit distribution arrangements. From the beginning of 2027, the separate CEO role for Danish Crown Beef will no longer exist.
During his tenure, Klostermann says the beef business has made substantial progress in value-added production.
“Together with fantastic dedicated employees in beef we have increased the level of value-added processing significantly and created more commercial value from our owners’ cattle,” he says.
He attributes that progress to a combination of efficient production, brand building, business development and commercial partnerships. Together, these capabilities have helped the business move further along the value chain.
Duedahl says the division has more than doubled in size under Klostermann’s leadership. He highlights Klostermann’s commercial approach and his ability to identify opportunities for expansion. Danish Crown’s recent agreement with McDonald’s, he adds, demonstrates the kind of strategic customer relationship the group wants to develop further.
Using scale to improve manufacturing performance
The restructuring extends well beyond changes to reporting lines and management responsibilities.
By combining manufacturing and product development capabilities across the business, Danish Crown intends to turn its size into a practical operating advantage. The approach could support more consistent processes, shared expertise and more efficient use of production assets.
At the same time, the group should have greater scope to develop products for specific customers, channels and geographic markets. This is particularly relevant as food and drink consumer trends continue to shift towards convenience, clear product positioning, traceability and added functionality.
The integrated model also supports Danish Crown’s ambition to become a cost leader in Europe. Rather than pursuing global reach as a primary objective, the company is narrowing its focus to six defined core markets and placing greater emphasis on Europe.
This change represents a clear adjustment in strategic priorities. Danish Crown is seeking to direct investment and management attention towards markets where its capabilities can generate the greatest commercial return.
Building fewer, stronger brands
The transformation will include a reduction in the number of brands, with resources concentrated on a smaller portfolio of stronger propositions.
As a result, product development, brand management and commercialisation will become increasingly important elements of the new operating model. These priorities align with wider food and drink industry innovation, where manufacturers are competing through differentiated products, targeted propositions and closer customer relationships.
Danish Crown’s immediate task is to create a competitive organisation and efficient operational foundation. The next phase will place more emphasis on brands and products.
For food manufacturers, the distinction is significant. The group is not pursuing cost reduction as an isolated exercise. Instead, it is building an operating platform that can support higher-value products, more effective customer propositions and stronger returns from the raw material entering its facilities.
The strategy connects three linked goals: improve efficiency, process a larger share of the available material and achieve a higher commercial value for the resulting products. This approach may also influence future decisions involving food and drink packaging, food and drink marketing and customer-specific manufacturing solutions.
Integration across the group
Danish Crown’s latest move takes the company further from a collection of relatively autonomous businesses and closer to an integrated food manufacturing group.
The success of the model will depend on whether organisational scale can deliver measurable improvements in manufacturing performance and, most importantly, greater value from every animal supplied by the cooperative owners.
The target of increasing valorisation from approximately 25% to 50% by 2030 provides a clear benchmark for measuring progress.
Klostermann’s departure also reflects the cultural change under way. His leadership of the beef business centred on value-added processing, brand development and commercial partnerships. Danish Crown now aims to apply those principles throughout a more closely connected organisation.
As Duedahl puts it, the next step is to strengthen competitiveness by making better use of the company’s “scale and capabilities.”
For Danish Crown, the reorganisation is ultimately about developing a manufacturing and commercial model that can capture more value from its existing supply chain. Its progress will be shaped not only by food manufacturing trends, but also by food distribution trends, food and drink sustainability priorities, evolving food and drink regulations and changing expectations across the wider food and beverage industry.
