The company employs some 3000 managers around the world

Beyond a likely small gain notoriety for La Vache qui Rit cheese brand already internationally known, bringing a boat in the colours of Groupe Bel and his smiling in the Vendée Globe pre-ruminant seems a bet won before even the start of the race. More than half of 11.500 collaborators of the world's leading cheese portion responded yes to the invitation to a coup de pouce to Kito ", the skippeur of"Groupe Bel. This operation was to propose to all employees of the cheesemaker to adhere to the Bel Tchiz Team, by affixing their inch footprint, identified by their first name on the monohull mast to mark their support concretely to skippeur Kito de Pavant. "I am the only skippeur to not go to solitaire," fun sailor, in reference to these 6,000 inch multiples on its masts.

Launched in June 2007 in the whole of the 25 sites for the production of Groupe Bel, formula met with unexpected success. "As the race is well publicized in France, we had a very positive reaction among our employees 3,000 French hopeful, but are all subsidiaries without exception who responded to the appeal," noted with pleasure Guillaume Jouët, Director of communication of Groupe Bel. And on the Red spar, in the colours of Babybel and another (sold to the Lebanon) Picon, Kiri or cow that laughs, the inches scanned in Ukraine, in Iran, the Morocco, in the United States, in the Netherlands or in the Jura span several metres high. "This personal brand illustrates the very strong membership of our staff an identification to the company project", welcomed the Director.

A federating role

Bel group, the four year partnership with the boat has a budget of the order of EUR 10 million, has developed means by disseminating its 27 commercial subsidiaries and production sites worldwide wafer of information in 11 languages. And in structuring the transaction, voluntary "ambassadors" of the Bel Tchiz Team have been appointed in different units. These volunteers have a role in unifying both and animation from their colleagues. Sometimes "this kind of initiative that comes from above falls flat with the employees", is a consultant, specialist of business relations. "If this market it is that this has been well explained and that this was an internal need," he says.

In fact, this French company, founded in Lons-le-Saunier in 1921 by Leon Bel, is now 80 per cent of its business, close to 2 billion euros, from France. "Our rapid growth internationally had not left us time to promote the emergence of a strong corporate culture." "Our employees lacking an anchor", analysis Guillaume Jouët. Already, this mobilization proves that entrepreneurship, including Ukrainian, Iranian or Egyptian, antenna is taking body. To begin this movement, Kito de Pavant and his monohull, in the course of the last twelve months, visit some factories, there where it was possible.

But the company remained family with heirs who control 70 of the capital via a holding company and a fund that has more than 20, also a problem of international executive recruitment. "We are not very well known, as the company has always was very discreet," explains Guillaume Jouët, who knows that to attract candidates and recruit the best managers sought by major agri-food, Groupe Bel requires awareness. The company employs some 3,000 managers around the world. "All schools have a sailing section." "By being present on the sport, it is a way to increase our visibility to future young leaders, because today, few potential candidates are the link between our brands for success and our group," punctuates the head. It is yet new talent Jura fromagerie, making an image of innovative company with the placing on the market of new patterns of consumption and packaging, will be able to defend its position as leader of its sector.