Belgian Award Best First Sustainability Report
As Belgium-listed European Fresh Savoury Food Group What’s Cooking? renewed its strategy and investment program witnessing the sector requires growth and sustainability (ESG) to go hand in hand.
Further focus on renewed strategy with additional focus on internal efficiency due to business relocation in the Netherlands
Lievegem, 13 October 2023 - 7.15 AM - What's Cooking? is committed to efficiency improvements, more specifically within its strategic business unit 'Savoury' or 'savoury cold cuts'. This will enable it to strengthen the base of its traditional products and services and respond even better to current and future customer needs in terms of service, efficiency and innovations for the future.
In March 2023, What's Cooking? announced its plan to bet on 'sustainable growth', with a forward-looking strategy focusing on sustainability and innovations of existing and new products, packaging, production processes and services to its customers. With a new name and one clear ambition, group synergies were also strengthened, so that while maintaining local focus and customer orientation, one vision can be rolled out with greater agility and efficiency.
As the company announced earlier, it takes time and investment to realize that ambition: "Day by day, we make sustainable food consumption second nature."
Constantly evaluating efficiencies and improvements is a key component in realizing this strategy.
The leased factory location of What's Cooking? in Aalsmeer, which is mainly dedicated to slicing cold cuts and providing logistics services, was evaluated in this context. Taking into account the possibilities within the group, it was decided to transfer most of the activities in Aalsmeer to other group locations in the Netherlands.
Advice was requested from the works council of What's Cooking? Netherlands and meanwhile recently obtained. Based on the advice, What's Cooking? is continuing local consultations regarding the practical implementation of the decision - this with a view to a gradual relocation of the activities at Aalsmeer in the Netherlands by 1 March 2024.
CEO Piet Sanders stressed, "By being and remaining local and cost-efficient, we 'unburden' our customers, we can further invest in sustainability and in improving service and innovations, retaining the trust of existing customers and hoping to win new ones. "
The estimated net personnel impact at Aalsmeer in the Netherlands will be 47 employees. We aim to find a solution within the group for as many employees as possible and, where this is not possible, to provide them with maximum work-to-work support.
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What's Cooking Group reaches agreement on intention to sell its SBU Savoury
What's Cooking Group NV (What's Cooking?), the leading European fresh food group with wide range in savoury cold cuts and ready meals announced in March 2024 that it had started a process to explore strategic options and maximize shareholder value. As part of this process, preliminary discussions had started on the possible sale of 100% of the share capital of What's Cooking Savoury Belgium NV and its subsidiaries in Belgium, the Netherlands, UK and Germany that produce, slice and sell savoury cold cuts (together the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Savoury).
Consolidated financial results first half 2023
First-half results of new 'What's Cooking?' confirm recovery despite continued cost inflation. After a decline in volumes in the first half of the year, volume growth returns.