20 Mar 23

Annual integrated report 2022: "We are back to our pre-Covid sales volume and result level"

2022 was a demanding year for the Vandemoortele Group. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lingered far into the year, while the historically high input prices and a shortage of raw materials due to the Ukrainian war, forced us to increase our own prices significantly. Our quick adaptability, both in terms of sales prices and recipes, allowed us to maintain our successful course. Regarding sustainability, we continued to make progress and even exceeded some of our targets. Throughout the year, the hard work and resilience of our associates played a crucial role in all our achievements.

2022 Annual Integrated Report (PDF)

2022 financial statements (PDF)

2022 financial statements ESEF (ZIP)

Financial performance

“After two difficult years, we have finally returned to our pre-COVID sales and production volumes. Our financial results are following that positive trend. In 2022, Group revenue increased by € 409 million to € 1.739 million. The adjusted EBITDA was € 46 million higher than in 2021 and back on our successful pre-COVID track”, says CEO Yvon Guérin.

Yvon Guérin

“In spite of challenging circumstances, we obtained a good result. Because input prices were rising so rapidly, we had no choice but to pass on the increased costs to our customers. This was a challenging, difficult, and delicate exercise, but it was necessary to safeguard the further growth and development of our company.”

“One of our main accomplishments in 2022 was being able to adhere to our chosen strategic course. We continued to invest in additional capacity and maintained our focus on the food service industry. I am proud of the resilience that all our teams exhibited: it was mainly thanks to the commitment of our various teams that we were able to achieve our goals.”

Figures_2022

Sustainability performance

In terms of sustainability, the Vandemoortele Group made a lot of progress in 2022. Chief Human Resources, Sustainability and Communication, Marc Croonen: “We stayed on track for all our Balanced Nutrition targets. Throughout the year, we reduced our water consumption and lowered further the number of food safety complaints. We also made good progress in terms of gender diversity & inclusion.”

Marc Croonen

“Year after year, we manage to achieve most of our targets. Nevertheless, we also face some challenges. After the COVID-19 years, our production volumes rapidly increased again, and we had to reinforce our teams with new and less experienced associates. As a result, our progress in terms of work safety stalled. We are taking measures to remedy this. We are also searching for new ways to further reduce our food losses. Our biggest challenge and target, will be achieving net zero CO2-emissions by 2050, in line with the Science-Based Targets initiative.”

“Overall, we are proud of our clear and structured sustainability approach. We communicate transparently about both our positive and our negative impacts. We see that sustainability is now well embedded in our processes, procedures and our culture.”

The road ahead

In 2023, the Vandemoortele Group aims to keep growing and to strengthen its sustainable corporate culture. “Every year presents new challenges. This time, the biggest uncertainty is the impact of the economic situation on global consumption”, says Jean Vandemoortele, chairman of the Board of Directors. “By maintaining our strategic focus on the food service sector and on value added products, we aim for further economic growth. We are continuing our geographical expansion and attending even more to export opportunities outside of Europe.”

Jean Vandemoortele

“In the coming months, we will keep investing in additional capacity to support our expansion. We are also focusing on sustainable energy, digital process optimisation and a better customer experience. We will continue to work on all our sustainability commitments and put more effort into achieving the more challenging targets. To stay aligned with the changing expectations of society and with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), we will set out our new sustainability strategy for 2030, in close collaboration with our internal and external stakeholders.”

Also read: Our Annual Integrated Report | Sustainability: a warm invitation to get to know us

About Vandemoortele

Vandemoortele was founded in 1899 as a Belgian family business, and has continued to grow and develop ever since. Over the last two decades, we became a European food company with leading positions in two product categories: Bakery Products (BP) and Plant-Based Food Solutions. We are known for supplying innovative and high-quality products. 

In 2023, Vandemoortele realised a turnover of around EUR 1.9 billion with 4,080 associates (permanent and temporary). The Vandemoortele Group headquarters are located in Ghent, Belgium. We have commercial offices in 12 European countries, as well as in the United States and Asia. We operate in 29 high-quality production sites all over Europe, in order to ensure proximity to all our key markets. We export from Europe to 72 countries worldwide.

News & Media Contact

Marc Croonen

marc.croonen@vandemoortele.com