Interview with Christian Jaun

Could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Christian Jaun. I grew up in the Swiss mountains. After my education as a farmer I studied Agronomy. I’m married and have 2 children. Today I work as a product manager at the Swiss company Vital AG. Vital AG produces premixes and additional feed mineral supplements for compound feed producers and home mixers.

Where did you work before your current position?
After my basic education I worked on several farms. For 3 summers I worked in the Alps producing Swiss Alp cheese. After my agronomy study I first worked in sales and also in an advisory capacity for a company which produced mineral supplements.
For 17 years now I have been working for Vital AG. I started in sales and in an advisory capacity. Later I switched to the marketing sector. For the last four years I have been responsible for the products as well as research and development.

What do you like about your job?
My job is very varied and versatile. I regularly meet with people from various industries with different activities. e.g. I deal with farmers and compound feed producers, but also with suppliers of raw materials and scientists. I often feel that I work at the interface between theory and practice which makes my job very interesting.

What kind of goals do you want to achieve with Perstorp?
The Perstorp products help us to offer solutions to our customers with which they can achieve their goals. With the broad product portfolio of Perstorp we nearly always come to a good result.

Could you tell us something about the industry you're in and how you see its future?
In Switzerland there are very few large farms. Most farms are very small in comparison to international standards. The Swiss agricultural industry produces high quality products. Unfortunately the production costs are much higher due to the small size of the companies and especially due to strict regulations and environmental rules which demand a lot extra from the farms compared to other countries.
The challenge for the future will be to position these special and high quality products in the international market.

How do you believe Perstorp can further strengthen its Feed brands?
I think it is the same as for all companies: the proven products should be kept and when needed be improved. At the same time you should always search for new innovations and when the market is demanding it, bring it to the market.

Do you have a question for the next person we will interview for this newsletter?

How can we make sure that we can still feed the growing world population in 30 years?