Interview with Birgit Stöber, CFO GoodMills

Even as a small child, Birgit Stöber was fascinated by the processes in her family’s artisanal business. Now, as CFO at the GoodMills Group, Stöber is drawing on her experience behind the scenes in agricultural production – and showing how women can get ahead.

Birgit, you’ve been with GoodMills virtually from day one. Which challenges have stuck in your mind?
In the first few years, besides defining our various strategic focuses, the emphasis was on building up an international organisation, and in particular a uniform controlling system. There was also the question of agreeing on a common language for the companies in the various countries and creating new structures. Over the course of my career since then, I’ve often been faced with tasks that were completely new to me, but I’ve always been happy to take them on – it’s the best way to grow as a person. To begin with, we didn’t even have a separate finance department. In the early years, in many regards there was also – to be quite honest – a fair amount of trial and error. One thing that always helped me, though, was my experience from the company environment at home, as well as the tools I picked up in my previous consulting jobs.

You became CFO in 2019. And in 2025 you were honoured with the title of “Trailblazing Woman in Food & Agriculture”. How have you managed to assert yourself in such a male-dominated industry?

Being one of only a few women in the executive ranks is something I’ve always seen as an opportunity. I’ve tried to put forward my perspective on things so that I can highlight alternative viewpoints. What’s more, the approach to doing business in our industry – which is integral to everything we do here at GoodMills – really suits me. That’s something I picked up at home, albeit on a much smaller scale. In my family’s artisanal business, I was always fascinated by the people who worked in production. And it’s no different at GoodMills. You happen upon the most important details when you walk through the production unit, listen to the people on the ground and see how they work in their specific environment.

“You happen upon the most important details when you listen to the people on the ground and see how they work in their specific environment.”

Your work revolves around a natural product. How important is a close connection with nature for you?
The empty supermarket flour shelves during the pandemic finally brought home to us just how essential the milling industry is when it comes to feeding people. I’m really proud to be involved in the production of a healthy, important natural product. One that we all need and consume every day. But you also need to look at things from the other side: we’re operating in an incredibly fiercely contested environment and we’re selling a product that demands a strong focus on competitiveness and cost-effectiveness.

How do you combine cost-effectiveness with responsibility? Especially in an industry at the point where agriculture and food processing converge.
By realigning every day to focus on our customers’ needs – that’s the foundation for commercial success. Our guiding principle is all about providing our customers with consistently reliable quality – without fail. We can only foster sound customer relationships if we stand out for our reliability. More than anything else, consistent quality is a part of that. On large industrial bakery production lines, our product needs to constantly meet the same quality standards, in order to ensure a uniform product at the end of the manufacturing process. Every harvest is different, but it’s important that the customers don’t notice these differences in the finished product. And our customers can count on GoodMills for that.

“Every harvest is different, but it’s important that the customers don’t notice these differences in the finished product.”

What message would you give to young women who are aiming to reach senior management positions in the agriculture and food business?
Always be yourself, identify your own values and develop your own personal management style. A good dose of self-confidence and boldness is OK – and you don’t need to apologise for working to achieve personal success either. For me, it’s always been important to make an impact through my work – for the good of our customers and our owners. Earning recognition for that is nice, but it shouldn’t be the main motivation that drives everything you do. I also don’t think there’s any point in fighting to break free as a woman in a male-dominated world. Even though we’re underrepresented, I see that as a USP. We can contribute fresh perspectives to the industry mindset and open up new angles in our leadership approach, too.

“For me, it’s always been important to make an impact through my work – for the good of our customers and our owners.”