Agricultural market leader Cefetra has appointed a new senior manager to lead its farm grain buying
team.
Samantha Holdstock has joined the company as National Origination Manager, taking over from
Simon Wilcox as he steps back from this responsibility in his role.
With a team of 34 grain buyers, Cefetra Grain has seven regional offices across England and Scotland
and is part of Cefetra Ltd, which has an annual turnover of over £1.5bn and supplies customers in the
animal nutrition, food and drink industries, handling circa 5million tonnes per annum.
Samantha will assume responsibility for the management of the farm grain buying team, having
joined from agricultural feed and country retailer Mole Valley Farmers where she was Head of Sales,
managing the UK sales teams.
She was a Regional Sales Manager for Countrywide Farmers, bringing with her a wealth of
agricultural knowledge and management experience. Earlier in her career she worked in the fast-
moving consumer goods (FMCG) and luxury goods sectors.
Samantha said: “I am pleased to take up this exciting opportunity where I can build upon my passion
for managing teams who operate in local markets and build strong relationships with farmers and
producers across the UK.
“Having worked in agriculture for the last 15 years or so I am looking forward to breadthening my
knowledge by leading the sales team in the grain sector.
“Cefetra has a strong heritage, with the confidence of having a national footprint coupled with
investment in supporting local farming, which meant the role had a great appeal.
“I have been impressed by the strong local understanding within the team and look forward to
developing the partnerships with farmers, colleagues and our customers.”
Manager – UK Farm Grain Origination Simon Wilcox, who plans to step down from the business early
in 2025, said: “We are delighted to welcome Samantha to the business and look forward to working
with her to achieve our goals as we continue to grow our farm grain buying capabilities.
“Samantha brings a tremendous amount of experience which I am sure she will utilise to bring
further success for Cefetra in the future.”
Cefetra Grain recently announced it has been appointed as grain marketing partner for Crop
Marketing Groups Ltd (CMG) co-operative, made up of over 300 members across 10 regional groups.
