Growing up on a farm in Denmark and spending his career in the agricultural sector, Claus Baltsersen, CEO of Idavang Group, has a keen understanding of the farming industry. He started working on farms while still at school and has worked for a variety of farms across Denmark. He launched Idavang with two partners after leaving Denmark to establish his own business.
We purchased our first company in Lithuania in 1999 and I was production director at that time, Claus explains, which meant I was taking care of the production of the pigs and spending time on the reconstruction of the farms we bought. In 2002, the CEO we had from the beginning quit his job, so I took over his position. In 2011, I was chairman of the board for our Lithuanian and Russian companies. And in the beginning of this year I became CEO of our group, Idavang, and CEO of our holding company in Denmark.
Claus regards himself as a production man who has acumen for the operational side of farming as well as the people who help keep the business running. What I like is management and listening to people; I want to see how people think and feel. I dont have a higher education in management, but what Ive done through these 15 years that Ive worked at Idavang is listen to other people and listen to people who have experience in management. Ive even done some courses, but Ive never made a direct copy and paste of some other companys program.