Patrick De Maeseneire wins the 7th Vlerick Award
More than 1,000 Vlerick alumni, students and other guests gathered in
the Kursaal in Ostend for the seventh Vlerick Award. As each year, the award
celebrated a Belgian manager who has more than earned his stripes
internationally. Patrick De Maeseneire (CEO of Barry Callebaut) took the bouquet
this year, although the names of the other nominees - Paul Bulcke (Nestlé), Rudi
De Becker (Hagemeyer) and Georges Ugeux (ex-New York Stock Exchange) - would
certainly not have been out of place on the roll of honour for the Vlerick
Award.
Patrick De Maeseneire's first reaction was that the Vlerick Award was recognition for the strong performance of the whole Barry Callebaut company. 'Because in the end it is our 8000 people world-wide in 40 works who make 1.2 million tons a year (a turnover of around 5 billion CHF) of quality cocoa and chocolate. Five years ago when I started at Barry Callebaut we were less known than we are today. Our share price stood at 110 Swiss francs, its lowest level ever. Today it stands at 958. An almost ninefold increase, well ahead of the stock exchange in general. We have also won many major clients in this period.'
Patrick De Maeseneire has his own business philosophy which seems at first glance to be pure logic, but which must always be strictly followed. 'We work in the first place for our customers', the CEO says. 'Many managers first think about their shareholders and/or investors. I drill it into our staff on a daily basis: it is the customer who pays our salary, not the shareholders. This attitude always pays off. Look at our shares. I too will always put the customer ahead of my own internal agenda. I have had this, for example, with Danone. We recently concluded a massive contract with Nestlé, which includes our taking over operations in their cocoa and chocolate production facilities in Italy and France. We now also supply chocolate to Nestlé production units in Russia. Danone's people had some misgivings about the deal and wanted to speak to me in Paris, on the exact day that my father-in-law's ashes were to be scattered at sea. I did actually go to Paris despite the family circumstances, but still managed to get back that evening in time for the scattering.'
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