Innovation is an immediate focus of newly formed bakery group Vandemoortele Délifrance, as it eyes up growth opportunities despite a reduced manufacturing footprint in the UK.
The recent merger between the two international frozen bakery suppliers has created a company with a combined turnover of close to €2.2bn (£1.8bn), with operations bringing together around 6,000 employees across 41 production sites in Belgium, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the US, China, and Thailand. It exports to more than 90 countries worldwide.
The European Commission cleared the transaction on 18 December 2025, conditional on the divestment of Délifrance’s Béthune and Avignon plants and related French customer relationships. However, the companies remained separate in the UK under an Initial Enforcement Order (IEO) pending an investigation from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into competition concerns over its supply of frozen laminated dough products.
A proposed remedy to sell off Vandemoortele’s Worcester site and its UK sales operations in Staines-upon-Thames was subsequently accepted by the CMA, paving the way for final clearance of the transaction earlier this month and the official launch of the bakery brand Vandemoortele Délifrance.
Family-owned Vandemoortele was founded in 1899 in Belgium, with its current global headquarters located in Ghent, while Délifrance started out in 1978 and has its HQ based in the Parisian suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine.
According to the company’s press release, the combination leverages on two complementary bakery heritages: Vandemoortele’s established bakery business and operational strength, and Délifrance’s French bakery know-how, inspirational brand, and customer proximity. “Together, they create a unique European bakery platform with the scale, offer breadth and expertise to serve all customers across channels and markets – and the ambition to shape what comes next in bakery,” commented Marc Croonen, chief human resources, sustainability, EHS & communication at Vandemoortele.
Croonen told British Baker that, post-merger, the company’s number one priority was its customers. “We are dedicated to keep supplying them with our great products and keep our service levels high,” he expressed, whilst accepting the two sides need time to learn from each other and see how they can further improve in innovation, customer service, and operational efficiency.
With the pastry factory in Worcester being divested as an ongoing business, the company does not intend to transfer existing production to Délifrance’s two bread manufacturing facilities in Wigston, Leicestershire, and Southall, West London. “As a result, the operational synergies are more limited than in some other markets,” noted Croonen.
Instead, it’s their complementary product portfolios, expertise, and capabilities that present significant opportunities for commercial growth. While both Vandemoortele and Délifrance have broad ranges in pastry and bread categories, their merger helps enrich its offer for British customers in areas such as focaccia, savoury pastries, doughnuts and muffins.
Croonen revealed the company sees the UK as “one of the core markets in Europe and an important growth market”, confirming a commitment to long-term development in the country. He pointed to “sophisticated retailers and foodservice customers, high expectations on quality, service and innovation, and consumers with a strong appetite for the categories in which we operate”.
With this in mind, Vandemoortele Délifrance is planning to offer “plenty of innovation” to the UK. “This is one of the areas we’ll work hard on in the immediate future,” asserted Crooned.
He added that the lifting of the IEO means the company can now start looking at its production network and future investment priorities. “We will review our capex plans with a focus on the capabilities and investments needed to support our customers and future growth in the UK,” said Croonen.
In terms of leadership following the merger, there remains no changes to company’s current global governance structure. Yvon Guérin keeps the Vandemoortele Group CEO role he assumed in 2020, Peter Boone stays as Vandemoortele’s managing director bakery products, and Robert O’Boyle continues in his sixth year as Délifrance CEO.
However, Richard Freeman has been promoted to general manager bakery products UK & Ireland at Délifrance after a little over four years as its commercial director in the region.
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