World Grain - February 2024 - 56

FEATURE: MILLING STILL A BIG PART OF BÜHLER'S DIVERSE BUSINESS
Customer intimacy is where it all
starts. You can do many things
wrong, but if you get that
wrong, you create problems.
Stefan Scheiber, CEO, Bühler
be safe, secure and has to deliver value for our customers.
Over time we grew these muscles, and we learned also
through failures, and through these, we made it work successfully.
That's the very spirit of what Bühler has been
doing over the last 160 years. It just so happens the world
was a rather physical world in most of the history of our
company. Now it has become digital as well. "
Bühler CEO
Stefan Scheiber
has spent his
entire career with
the Switzerlandbased
company.
Entire career with Bühler
A native of Wil, Switzerland, a town of about 20,000
(as of 2020) just west of Uzwil, Scheiber has spent his
entire career at Bühler, beginning in 1986 when he became
what he described as a " management trainee in the
lowest ranks. " He went to Africa with Bühler in 1988 and,
after returning to Switzerland to complete his education,
he returned to Bühler, first in post-Soviet Russia where
he had multiple months-long stints in various locations,
including Siberia and central Asia. From there he spent
two years in eastern Africa, and later another four years in
South Africa, where he reported to René Steiner, who later
headed Bühler's North American business for many years.
From Africa, Scheiber had assignments of increasing responsibility
in Germany and in Switzerland before he was
promoted to Bühler's executive board in Switzerland in
2005. He was named CEO of the Bühler Group in 2016.
Part of what drew Scheiber to Bühler was a determination
to avoid what long has been one of the most popular
career choices in Switzerland for ambitious young professionals:
" I absolutely didn't want to work in the financial
industry, " he said. " I wanted to work in a producing industry,
where they produce real assets, tangible things. "
Over time, Scheiber said his appreciation for what
Bühler was about deepened - that the company's values
aligned with his.
" The purpose of this family business has been consistent
for a long time, " he said. " I could see they were walking
the talk. "
Being respectful, the value of education and innovation
and an appreciation for other cultures were among values
Scheiber said he has witnessed consistently over the
course of his career.
" I could see it by myself in all the functions I had in
many different countries - I could see it was consistent
and authentic, " he said. " That spirit of a family company
appeals to me a lot. "
As his career progressed, he also gained a greater appreciation
for the underlying importance of Bühler's
work, he said.
" Our customers feed the world, " Scheiber said. " That
is a noble cause. As a young man, I didn't know, but over
time it became more important to me. "
The harsh realities of life he witnessed in Africa drove
this realization home, the idea that Bühler's role was to do
more than " merely delivering financial results. "
" To see what good food does for a child, when the child
then has the cognitive capabilities to learn, and when you
learn you have the capability to have a better life, " he
said. " This is something that is very important. Not just in
Africa. In India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and in many other
countries of the planet - our technologies are playing a
role in that food that is so basic for people. "
Asked for important lessons he has learned over the
course of his career, Scheiber said that the resilience
Bühler has demonstrated by surviving as a business since
1860, in good times and bad, has been an important lesson.
" As a part of that organization, as a person you have
to do the same thing, " he said. " You have to celebrate
successes and remain humble at the same time. Humility
in the face of success. You have to work through critical
times, never give up and always find solutions That makes
you stronger. These kinds of things formed me as a human
being but also as a leader of the company. "
Josh Sosland is editor of Milling & Baking News, sister publication of
World Grain. He may be reached at jsosland@sosland.com.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries
to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles,
email reprints@sosland.com.
56
February 2024 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
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World Grain - February 2024

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