IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Behind the scenes
Faces and portraits
How were the events for you? What did you particularly enjoy and what will you remember?
“To be honest, I was looking forward to the events with mixed feelings; saying goodbye doesn’t only consist of happy aspects. In the end, both events were unforgettable experiences. It is difficult to select highlights, but of course I was particularly pleased that Mr. Neumann was not only present but was also the host and found the right words to look back on 30 years at Neumann Gruppe in Vietnam. It was great to see not only current business partners, but also many friends from previous years, and to exchange memories. Of course, it also makes you a little proud to hear so many appreciative words.”
MAY 1988
Thomas Weiske’s journey in Vietnam started when he was in charge for East German specialists who helped Vietnam in different areas, one of it was coffee
1988
His first contact with Vietnam coffee was a joint project between Vietnam and East Germany to develop 10.000 ha of coffee.
1992
Michael R. Neumann recognized the potential of Vietnam coffee, a country that produced at this time less than 1 million bags of coffee and was still under the US embargo. He sent Thomas Weiske to Vietnam to set up the first office of an international coffee company in Vietnam – NG Representative Office Vietnam. The small team did not have an easy start: It was difficult to get a license to operate in Ho Chi Minh City, and Thomas’ Vietnamese friends were suspicious of NG’s business plans.
2007
After 15 years in charge of NG RepOffice Vietnam, Thomas Weiske was asked to take responsibility for the NG export operation that has been established in 2001 – Neumann Gruppe Vietnam. The highlight of his export career was the entire process of building a new factory as an essential prerequisite for increasing volume and becoming a major export player in Vietnam.
2023
Thomas Weiske ends his extraordinary career as a pioneer, enabler, and achiever, at NKG.
When you look back on your time at NKG:
What were your highlight moments?
“A highlight for me is definitely that there were no ‘lowlights’ – it was an incredible development over 30 years. Of course, the pioneering work in the 90s was particularly exciting. Business in Vietnam was new for us, but also for our Vietnamese partners, who had never supplied coffee to international markets before. Many Vietnamese exporters developed during this period, we were able to grow and learn together, and some have remained loyal to us for over 30 years; wonderful partnerships have developed. Another highlight was the whole process of planning and building our factory in An Phuoc and, along with that, the trust that was placed in us by Hamburg. It was really great to plan and execute such a project and then see that we were able to meet the expectations set for us – or at least be on a very good path to do so.”
What will you remember most fondly and what will you miss most?
“I will miss our team in Vietnam the most! After all, there are not only successes in business life and, from my point of view, a good team is the most important point why we still enjoy going to work every day. The fact that you don’t wait all week for the weekend or for your vacation, and on the contrary are happy to go to work every day – that’s a special gift and I will certainly miss that!”
What are you most looking forward to now?
“There are some things I would like to make more time for now: my family, of course, sports, gardening – and I have decided to improve my knowledge with other stock market products such as shares and certificates. I’m quite confident that the new phase of my life will also be exciting and bring me a lot of joy.”
A few weeks ago, we were very happy to spread the news about our growing NKG family with you: Nordic Approach, with its Spin-off Tropiq, joined us! We would like to introduce you to the new companies, welcome the new teams again and wish everyone a great start here at NKG.
In 2023, we celebrate a couple of anniversaries in our group. But we are not just celebrating a mere year. Rather, we celebrate the people behind the company names! We celebrate our colleagues, who have been doing a fantastic job for years, and teams that have been an unmissable part of the business and our group for decades. Thank you very much, keep going and Congratulations!
This time we are looking for cities where NKG companies are operating. Who can recognize our locations just by looking at the skyline? Put yourself and your skyline knowledge to the test and tell us, which cities do we see here? There are three answer options per skyline as a little help. A tip: You can find all our locations in the overview on: Our Network – Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG). Have fun and good luck with the guessing!
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