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Company Management

For more than 95 years RAPS has been combining tradition and innovation. Right from the start the Management committed to a sustainable leadership which aims at healthy economic growth and regards dedication to the industry and society as an essential part of the business culture. The partners, managing director and the advisory board have the task to be the best partner to customers and at the same time they have to consider the interests of the 900 employees worldwide.

Florian Knell

Managing Director

Florian Knell is Managing Director of RAPS GmbH & Co. KG since January 2017 and therefore CEO of the RAPS group.

After studying business management at the University of Passau/Germany, Florian Knell gained considerable experience in the consumer goods industry: For nine years he worked for the UNILEVER group in various functions. In 2002 he joined the German games producer RAVENSBURGER and was a successful Managing Director for more than 10 years. In 2013 he was appointed to the executive board.

Florian Knell knows RAPS GmbH & Co. KG well. Since 2011 he has been member of the advisory board and has therefore been in the inner circle of advisers for many years.

Florian Knell is married and has two adult children.

Frank Kühne

Principal and Chairman of the advisory board

Frank Kühne is main shareholder of RAPS GmbH & Co. KG and chairman of the advisory board. From 2005 to 2012 he was Managing Director of the company which has been family-owned and managed throughout three generations. In addition to his function as chairman of the advisory board, he is head of the Adalbert-Raps-Foundation. This foundation is one of the biggest in northern Bavaria and finances social projects in the area and supports research projects of the food industry in general. Furthermore, he invests in many young companies of the food business, he is qualified spice sommelier and supports the revival of the German butcher trade by the initiative “Trüffeljagd” (truffle hunt).

Frank Kühne studied economics at the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany and at the Stellenbosch University of South Africa. Before joining the family business, he worked for an international paper corporation in France and Finland.

Frank Kühne has four children and lives with his family in Upper Franconia.

Ronald Lotgerink

Member of the advisory board

The food industry expert Ronald Lotgerink has been a member of the RAPS GmbH & Co KG advisory board since 2015. With his comprehensive knowledge of the food industry and his professional experience in finance, he has become a respected advisor to RAPS.

Ronald Lotgerink was appointed CEO of the VION Food Group in September 2018. For the last four years he was a member of its advisory board. VION is an international meat processor with manufacturing plants in the Netherlands and Germany. Ronald Lotgerink studied ACCOUNTANCY NIRVA (International Business Administration) in Utrecht/ Amsterdam and Taxation and Economics at the University of Groningen. He began his professional career as an auditor and consultant at KPMG. He then spent 30 years at the Zwanenberg Food Group, the last 10 as CEO of the organization.

Ronald Lotgerink lives with his family near Twente (the Netherlands) and has three adult daughters.