Spreading good health Vandemoortele

SPREADING GOOD HEALTH

Vandemoortele is a household name in Europe. Its margarines, oils, dressings, pastry and patisserie products grace tables throughout the EU. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to gain market share with its healthy recipes and innovative new products.

Vandemoortele is a family controlled food group with Belgian roots and a European perspective. The company occupies a leading position in its two core business activities; bakery products and lipids.

In 2014 Vandemoortele recorded revenues of more than €1.3 billion with over 5,000 employees working in 35 production facilities and 17 commercial sites across 12 European countries.

Vandemoortele is a premier household name across Europe with its margarines, oils, dressings, breads, donuts, pastry and patisserie products finding their way into the lives of millions of people every day. However, some people may not have associated the Vandemoortele brand with some of these product categories, because many of its products are not marketed to consumers under its own brand name but to private-label retail food producers.

Vandemoortele manufactures and markets high-quality food products focussed on two main activities: frozen bakery products and margarines and fats (lipids). In the bakery products sector, the company offers a wide range of frozen bread products, pastry, American products and patisserie for professional users in bakery and food service channels. This is in addition to food retailers, who rely on the high quality and convenience of Vandemoortele’s products.

In Lipids, Vandemoortele targets European professional users with a broad portfolio of products that combine processability, with taste and flavour. The company also appeals to European retailers with private label margarines and frying fats. In addition, the company has a number of strong consumer brands of its own in the Benelux such as Vandemoortele, Vitelma, Diamant, Reddy and Gouda Glorie.

Palm oil promise

As a leading European food group, Vandemoortele is fully aware of its important role in the procurement of its raw materials such as palm oil. In 2009 the company became a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and thus committed to source 100 per cent sustainable palm oil by 2105. The company is also committed to using only traceable, non deforestation and non exploitation palm oils

in its supply chain.

Vandemoortele’s margarines, fats and frozen bakery products are sold by leading retailers and restaurants across the EU and as a privately owned business the company considers its values, including trust and integrity, as central to the way that it operates. Since becoming part of the RSPO in 2009 the company has used only certified RSPO palm oil for its own retail brands and many of its production sites have been certified using RSPO ‘Mass Balance and Segregated’ certified sustainable palm oil.

In 2013, Vandemoortele, recognising the importance of traceability in helping to bring transformation in the palm oil industry, also became a member of the French Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil, and is an active participant in many other initiatives to promote the uptake of sustainable palm oil internationally.

Strategic acquisition

In line with its strategy to grow its business through strategic acquisitions in Europe, Vandemoortele recently announced its purchase of Italy’s leading frozen focaccia and bread manufacturer, LAG (Lanterna-Agritech).

With this key acquisition, Vandemoortele strengthens its bakery products business in Italy and extends its product range with typical Italian products such as focaccia and ciabata. “We are impressed by the passion for the product and by the strong performance of LAG in the Italian market. We see clear opportunities for further growth” said Jules Noten, CEO of Vandemoortele.

Currently LAG employs around 300 people with production operations in Genoa Ravenna and Padua with an annual turnover in 2103 of more than 87 million euro. Currently Vandemoortele employs

30 people in its Milan office in Italy and a further 4,700 across the group. Jean Vandemoortele, chairman of Vandemoortele commented, “This acquisition is fully in line with the growth strategy of Vandemoortele and comes on top of our investments in Lyon and our future plans for Poland as previously announced”.

Adding value

Vandemoortele has announced a brand new value-added communications platform for its Lipids industry Channel called: Baker’s margarines®. The company’s specialised experience in both margarines and bakery products gives it the perfect insight into the products and the markets of tomorrow for the benefit of its bakery clientelle. Therefore as a part of the new branding and communication strategy, Vandemoortele has presented four new innovative ranges, especially for bakers and inspired by the latest consumer trends.

These are, ‘Bakers Taste’, which gives products an additional tasty boost, and ‘Baker’s E-Free’, which is a recipe for natural products. In addition, ‘Bakers Low Sat’, makes a significant contribution to consumer’s health, and ‘Baker’s Low Fat’, reduces the intake of fat in consumer products. Interested parties can find out more about these latest developments at the Baker’s brand new website: www.bakersmargarines.com n

For further details of Vandemoortele’s high quality consumer products and value-added services visit: www.vandemoortele.com