To be the best, learn from the best!

I’m Quality and Innovation Manager Dirafrost Group, a frozen fruit ingredient solutions provider and member of AGRANA Group, one of the world’s largest fruit processors. Dirafrost is a very dynamic and innovative company, with strong quality and sustainability values.

My educational background is in commercial and labour law. I have also studied languages (the keys to understanding cultures) and quality and food safety systems. I hold an MBA, and my first experience with Vlerick was the ‘Leading Innovation’ programme.

Quality, strategy and innovation

I started my career in 2004 in the quality lab at the AGRANA Ukraine production plant; and in 2016, I moved to Dirafrost FFI (Lummen, Belgium) as Dirafrost Group Quality Manager.

I also have a quality coordinating role in the frozen fruit and puree activities at AGRANA facilities in Argentina, India, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Turkey, and Ukraine. These very diverse teams add enormous value to our collective intelligence.

In 2019-22, Dirafrost reviewed its strategy, and quality and innovation were chosen as the company’s differentiators and business enablers. Since 2022, I have been responsible for innovation management – and over the last couple of years, we have established a strong link between company strategy and innovation management.

So, at this point, I felt the need for professional education in order to be able to convert innovative ideas into successful business projects.

Vlerick … the best option

From the very beginning, I did not consider other business schools – because, from all perspectives, Vlerick seemed to be the best option. Our CEO has participated in the Executive Master Class in Controllership, and our former Commercial Director has taken the Strategy Formulation and Strategy Execution programmes. And their feedback was very positive.

It’s amazing how diverse and rich in knowledge the group was! Between learning sessions, we had discussion rounds and info exchanges with all of the other participants from the different countries. So, on top of receiving knowledge from the professors and mentors, we learned a lot from each other as well.

Taking a long-term perspective, I believe that sustainability is the core of business strategy. And this conviction was confirmed by expert guest speaker Guy Wollaert during the programme. The programme’s biggest ROI for my company? A more efficient innovation process linked with business growth and based on risk and opportunity assessment.

Networking is definitely one of the top advantages of choosing Vlerick. I found customers and suppliers for our company among the participants. And one more plus-point: Ghent. The city’s beauty provides the perfect setting for inspiring learning!

Yuriy Vdovychenko, Quality & Innovation Manager at Dirafrost Group

Participant Leading Innovation