Reflections from the Knowit Strategy Forum with Christoph Vitzthum, President & CEO at Fazer
When the ground is shifting, having the best map is no longer enough. What matters is knowing where you're headed, being able to read the changing landscape, and choosing the right path forward.
This idea set the tone for the Knowit Strategy Forum in the beginning of May, where we gathered clients, business leaders, and peers to explore how long-term ambition and short-term agility can work together in modern leadership.
Aligning vision and growth: Insights from Catharina Stackelberg
The event began with insights from Catharina Stackelberg, Executive Vice President at Knowit. She spoke about the importance of a clear vision, not just an ambition, but as a remover of mind-blockers for growth. How a strong vision is grounded in the commercial context and acts as a lens to showcase the direction in a compelling way.
Catharina then explained that once the direction is clear, customer obsession is key to win in the market. Understanding market demand and how you can cluster the demand in large enough contexts, or what we call growth platforms, shows the direction where you have the right to win. To accelerate growth, it is crucial to set the bar high and define your addressable market beyond the current playing field.
Growth platforms are strategic tools for driving growth from a customer need-driven perspective. They are grounded in profoundly understanding customer needs and tensions, future trends, market and channel dynamics, the size of the platform and the company's business goals. Read more about growth platforms here.
To summarize the message: in today’s reality, a company’s strategic ambition and its commercial engine must be tightly aligned.
Christoph Vitzthum on leading Fazer with a strong North Star
Our keynote speaker, Christoph Vitzthum, President and CEO of Fazer Group, delivered a grounded and forward-looking perspective on leading in turbulent times. In his keynote speech, “Leading in turbulent times with a strong North Star”, he reflected on Fazer’s transformation journey and shared how the company continues to navigate uncertainty by staying true to its mission - Food with a purpose, while adapting to change.
He began by acknowledging that the operating environment has fundamentally shifted. Consumer expectations are evolving, megatrends are accelerating, and cost pressures continue to intensify. To remain responsive, Fazer places the consumer at the heart of strategic thinking and builds strategies that offer clear direction while staying flexible enough to adapt.
He also emphasised the importance of high-level clarity in communication, paired with the ability to steer the organisation toward greater agility and speed. This approach enables Fazer to stay on course, even when external conditions are unpredictable.
Fazer closely tracks changes in consumer behaviour and global trends to stay ahead of emerging needs, while leveraging its ongoing transformation to maintain momentum. Whether expanding into new markets, divesting non-core businesses, developing new offerings, or reshaping internal functions, Fazer ensures that its actions consistently align with its North stars: Towards perfect days through food with a purpose.
One especially powerful point he made was that resilience does not mean resistance to change. Instead, it means having the clarity and agility to evolve without losing sight of who you are.
Other key takeaways included:
- Crafting strategies that provide a clear direction, but leave room for agility in action
- Placing the consumer at the heart of decision-making
- Communicating with consistency and clarity, both internally and externally
- Driving organisational flexibility and speed in a fast-changing environment
- Investing in people with an inner drive to grow
Strategy in practice
At Knowit, we believe that strategy is only as strong as its execution. The best strategies create alignment and inspiration, steer focus and enable fast, confident decisions.
Our long-standing collaboration with Fazer, now in its third decade, has allowed us to witness and support this approach first-hand. From vision and growth strategy to brand and commercial development, our work together has always been rooted in insight, clarity and actionability.
What does clarity mean in your organisation?
We invite every leader to ask themselves: Do we have the clarity to steer confidently through uncertainty? Are our strategies anchored in real market insight?
If these questions resonate with you, we would welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation. Whether you are refining your strategic direction or navigating transformation, Knowit is ready to support the journey.
Get in touch to explore what strategic clarity and commercial alignment could mean for your organisation.
