Citwell is pleased to announce a new collaboration with two recognized experts in the global agri-food sector: Philippe de Lapérouse and Paul Smolen. Together, we combine decades of experience in food and agriculture with Citwell’s proven expertise in transforming supply chains and industrial operations worldwide.
An industry facing structural shifts
The global agri-food industry is undergoing a profound transformation driven by multiple long-term trends. Companies must navigate the adoption of new technologies, increasingly volatile climate conditions, rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence, evolving government policies on food safety and renewable energy, and shifting consumer expectations around health and wellness. The rising impact of GLP-1 drugs on consumption patterns is already reshaping demand and challenging traditional forecasting and portfolio strategies.
In this context, pressure on supply chains and operating models continues to intensify. End-to-end visibility, resilience, and agility are no longer “nice to have” capabilities but core enablers of competitiveness and long-term value creation. For agri-food players, this means rethinking how they plan, source, produce, store, and distribute products across increasingly complex global networks.
From short-term fixes to strategic transformation
Across our client base, we have observed a growing need to transform supply logistics capabilities and sales and industrial operations to address rising interest rates and inflation, increased food insecurity, shifting comparative advantages between major origins, and persistent labor shortages. Many organizations have responded with short-term measures—tactical inventory buffers, temporary capacity adjustments, or local workaround solutions—rather than undertaking the deeper transformation required.
These stopgap actions may alleviate immediate pressure but rarely deliver sustainable performance or resilience. They can also increase complexity and cost, making it harder to respond when market dynamics shift again. What is needed is a strategic re-design of operating models and supply chains, anchored in robust data, advanced analytics, and cross-functional governance
A collaboration rooted in deep industry experience
To address this unmet need in the agri-food sector, Citwell has established a collaboration with Philippe de Lapérouse and Paul Smolen. Philippe brings extensive experience across global food and agribusiness, including leadership in investment, logistics, and operating strategy for companies exposed to agricultural markets and biomass supply chains. Paul adds complementary expertise in marketing and commercial strategy for grains, oilseeds, and food and energy businesses, advising clients on how to adapt to demand shifts, policy changes, and competitive dynamics.
Combined, they have several decades of industry experience across the global agri-food value chain, from upstream production to downstream processing, trading, and distribution. They have held executive management roles and advised companies on operating strategies, acquisitions, resource allocation, and risk management in complex, regulated and highly volatile environments. Their knowledge of sector-specific risks, cultural factors, and regulatory frameworks complements Citwell’s cross-industry supply chain and operations consulting capabilities.
Helping clients build resilient, adaptive supply chains
This collaboration is based on a shared conviction: successfully addressing today’s agri-food challenges requires strategic clarity, deep operational expertise, and a nuanced understanding of value chain dynamics. Together, we help clients move beyond incremental improvements to re-design their operating models around resilience, adaptability, and long-term value creation.
Our joint support focuses on several priority areas.
- Aligning operating strategies with evolving demand, regulatory requirements, and sustainability objectives.
- Redesigning supply chains to improve service, reduce cost and enhance risk management across geographies and product categories.
- Leveraging data, advanced analytics and generative AI to improve forecasting, scenario planning and decision-making.
- Structuring acquisitions, partnerships and investments to strengthen strategic positions along the agri-food value chain.
By combining sector-specific insight with proven methodologies in supply chain and operations transformation, this collaboration strengthens Citwell’s ability to support agri-food clients in navigating complexity. It enables them to move faster from diagnosis to implementation, and to build more resilient, adaptive and forward-looking supply chains in a rapidly changing world.