Executive committee

Yvon Guérin joined Vandemoortele in January 2019 as Managing Director BP and in July 2020, he became CEO of the Vandemoortele Group. He graduated as Food Engineer at ESA Angers, France, and obtained an MBA in ESSEC Business School in Paris, France. For 28 years, Yvon Guérin worked at Lactalis Group, a worldwide dairy leader. During his career at Lactalis, he continued to earn his stripes. First, as Head of Control and Finance. Later as GM for USA and Brasil, and years later as MD Industrial & Food Service Europe and Group Europe. For a decade, Yvon Guérin was a member of the Exco and the Board of the Lactalis Group. Seven years before joining Vandemoortele, Yvon Guérin was CEO and MD of the Parmalat Group in Parma, Italy.

Bart Bruyneel joined Vandemoortele in 1991. After several management roles in operations and commercial, he was appointed Managing Director of the Business Line Margarine, Culinary Oils and Fats (MCOF) in 2009. Bart Bruyneel holds a Master and a Ph.D in Bio-engineering and a Master in Industrial Management from the University of Ghent, Belgium, as well as an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Before joining Vandemoortele he worked at the University of Ghent and at RADAR (pre-mixes for animal feed).

Marc Croonen joined Vandemoortele in January 2019 as Chief Human Resources Officer. He now also holds responsibility for Communication, Sustainability and HSE (Health, Safety and Environment). Marc Croonen holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology and has international experience in different industries and different functions at AB InBev (HR, IT), Ahold Delhaize (HR, Sustainability), Danone (HR, Communication), International Paper (HR) and Dexia (HR).

In October 2020, Sabine Sagaert joined Vandemoortele as Managing Director of the Bakery Business Line. She holds a Master in Commercial Engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), a Master in Economic Legislation at the Catholic University Louvain-La-Neuve, a Master of Business Administration at the KUL and a Bachelor in Fiscal Law. Sabine Sagaert started her career with CBR (Heidelberg Cement), after which she joined AB Inbev in 1998 holding different positions (Sales, Marketing Belgium, PDG France, MD Belux). She continued her professional career at Arseus and finally at Cargill in 2011 for almost 10 years, first as General Manager EMEA of the Malt division and then as President of the Global Malt division. In 2018, Sabine Sagaert was appointed Managing Director Oils & Seeds EMEA/Russia, her latest role at Cargill before joining Vandemoortele.

Helena Vanhoutte has been with the Vandemoortele Group for more than ten years in various positions (Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality and Engineering). She holds a Master in Bio-engineering from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and ENSBANA Dijon, France. For the past two years, as CTO, Helena Vanhoutte has also accompanied the group's transformation projects. Since March 2020, she leads the Management Team France as General Manager France to continue the growth dynamic of the French Business Unit, the largest market for the Vandemoortele Group. 

Herman Van Steenstraeten joined Vandemoortele in 2011. Since October 2017 he leads the Finance and IT organisation of Vandemoortele. He graduated as Master in Commercial and Financial Science. Herman Van Steenstraeten started his career at Price Waterhouse (Audit). Since then, he worked in different positions at Henkel (Controlling, Sales) where, in 2005, he became CFO of Henkel BeNeLux and Global Head of Financial Controlling Henkel Group in Germany. Returning to Belgium, as CFO he led Thomas Cook Belgium through a transformation programme for more than 2 years. 

Philippe Delsaut joins the Vandemoortele Group in April 2022 as Chief Legal & Risk Officer and General Secretary. ​​​​He graduated as Master of Laws at the University of Brussels. Later, Philippe also obtained an Executive MBA at HEC Paris. The first steps of his career path were taken in different Belgian law firms. In 2006, Philippe became Vice President at Newell Rubbermaid, for the regions Belgium, France and Switzerland. In the years to follow, he additionally worked as General Manager Emerging Regions, General Counsel EMEA and - as of 2011 - APAC. Before starting the new chapter of his career at Vandemoortele, Philippe took up leading roles at the Eaton Corporation, for the regions Switzerland and the USA.