Case Study Snapshot
Role Sweet Cherry Farm Manager
Sector Fresh Produce / Stone Fruit
Geography Southern Europe
Search Type Retained Executive Search
Key Challenge Acute talent scarcity in region; search restarted after original candidate withdrew
Outcome Successful placement; candidate relocated from South America with full relocation package
Context
A private equity fund investing in agricultural assets had acquired land in Southern Europe as part of a buy, build, sell strategy. The plan was to develop a cherry orchard from the ground up, which meant the incoming Farm Manager would not be stepping into an existing operation. They would be building one.
The timing was tight. The acquisition was in its final stages, planting was approaching, and the project needed operational ownership in place before development could begin. A candidate had been identified through an earlier process, but withdrew for personal reasons before the appointment was confirmed. The search restarted from scratch, with the same deadline and the same constraints.
LCR International was brought in to run a retained search and find the right person, quickly.
The Brief
The role called for genuine hands-on experience in sweet cherry or stone fruit agronomy. Farm management at a strategic level was not enough. The client needed someone who understood the crop, the growing conditions, and the practicalities of building an orchard operation from bare land.
Beyond agronomic capability, the candidate needed to demonstrate financial literacy, including budgeting and board-level reporting, and the ability to lead a team that would grow alongside the orchard. Working autonomously in a remote location was a given, not a preference.
Regenerative farming was a firm requirement, built into the ethos of the fund. A relevant degree was also important, partly for the candidate's own credibility and partly to satisfy investor expectations within the PE structure.
A good standard of English was required for internal communications and stakeholder engagement. And critically, the candidate had to be genuinely willing to relocate to a rural location in Southern Europe. That requirement, reasonable on paper, proved to be one of the most significant constraints of the entire search.
The Challenge
Sweet cherry and stone fruit expertise is genuinely scarce in Southern Europe. The industry is less developed there than in major Southern Hemisphere growing regions, and the pool of candidates with relevant farm management experience at the level required is small.
The search team mapped 118 candidates across Southern Europe and beyond. What emerged quickly was that candidates already based in the region with the right agronomic background were, in most cases, unwilling to relocate to a remote rural site. Interest in the role was present. Willingness to move was not.
The restart added a further layer of pressure. With urgency already built into the brief, the team had to rebuild the pipeline without simply revisiting the same candidates from the first attempt. Around 40 new profiles were added when the search restarted, widening the net deliberately and methodically.
It became apparent within the first few weeks that Southern Europe alone would not produce a viable shortlist.
LCR International's Approach
The search expanded internationally, with particular focus on South America, where large-scale sweet cherry orchard management is well established and the depth of relevant expertise is considerably greater than in Europe. This was not a speculative decision. It reflected a clear read of where the talent actually sits globally.
Candidate qualification was structured and deliberate. Every candidate who progressed went through a two-stage internal interview process before reaching the client. The first stage assessed technical and agronomic capability. The second focused on leadership, autonomy, and cultural alignment with the fund's regenerative farming ethos. Six candidates completed that process and were presented as a shortlist.
The approach gave the client a shortlist that had been properly stress-tested before their time was committed. Given the false start earlier in the process, that mattered.
Confidentiality was maintained throughout. Initial outreach was conducted without disclosing the client's identity, and any public-facing content was reviewed and approved before publication.
The Outcome
The search was completed in eight weeks from when the international pipeline was fully active. The successful candidate was identified in South America and relocated to Southern Europe with a full relocation package provided by the client.
From the first client interview to accepted offer took approximately five to six weeks. The candidate was in post shortly after the offer stage, ahead of the planting window.
What This Search Reveals
This search is a reasonable illustration of a challenge that comes up regularly in fresh produce executive hiring: the assumption that specialist talent can be found within a defined geography. For some roles, that holds. For others, particularly in crops or growing systems where expertise is concentrated in specific parts of the world, it does not.
Sweet cherry production at scale is a Southern Hemisphere specialism. The knowledge base, the operational experience, and the career pathways for people who know this crop well have developed primarily in South America and Australasia. When a European operation needs that expertise, the search has to go where the talent is.
The retained model is also worth noting here. A search with this level of complexity, a narrow brief, a geographic pivot, and a mid-process restart requires consistent resource and a clear process. It is the kind of assignment where a transactional approach is likely to stall. Dedicated search, with a structured qualification process, is what kept this one moving.
For fresh produce businesses operating in regions where local talent is limited, the lesson is a practical one. Define the brief tightly, be open to international candidates early, and give the search enough structure to absorb setbacks. The talent exists. Finding it is a question of knowing where to look.
LCR International is a retained executive search firm specialising in senior and executive appointments across the global fresh produce industry.
Retained Executive Search | Sweet Cherry | Stone Fruit | Fresh Produce Recruitment | Southern Europe | Agribusiness
