🧀 Babybel to Big Data: Bel Group CEO on AI, Sustainability & Food Innovation | CGF 2025
In this inspiring conversation recorded live from the VusionGroup Podcast Studio at CGF 2025 in Amsterdam, Bel Group CEO Cecile Béliot-Zind takes Omni Talk inside the company’s mission to balance performance and sustainability through innovation. She breaks down how Bel uses regenerative agriculture (7:00), artificial intelligence for shopper guidance (9:00), and virtual twin tech to accelerate sustainable product development (11:00). Cecile also reflects on her path from Danone to Bel (3:00), the power of collaboration across the food supply chain (6:00), and why the future of food must start with nature and partnership.
#BelGroup #CGF2025 #sustainablefood #aiinretail #regenerativeagriculture #foodinnovation #omnitalkretail #babybel #circulareconomy #retailleadership #healthysnacking
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Transcript
Hello everyone.
Speaker A:Welcome back.
Speaker A:This is Omnitok Retail coming to you live from the Fusion Group booth here at the Consumer Goods Forum in Amsterdam.
Speaker A:I'm Anne Mazinga.
Speaker B:And I'm Chris Walton.
Speaker A:And standing between us we have Cecile Billoxin, the chief executive officer of the Bell Group.
Speaker A:Cecile, welcome.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:We're so excited to have you.
Speaker B:Yes, I know.
Speaker B:I say before we got started, I'm very excited for this interview because I love your products.
Speaker B:But maybe for those of us, for those of our watchers back home that are maybe unfamiliar with Bell and can you explain to them what it is and what it is that you do?
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker C:So we are a family owned company, pretty old, 169 years old.
Speaker C:And I believe that most of the brand we have, you will know them because it's Baby Bell, the La Fenco, Go Go Squeeze or Pump Pot or Kiri.
Speaker C:So they are pretty global I would say.
Speaker C:And we are used to describe what we do.
Speaker C:Like we sell portions of goodness.
Speaker C:So goodness coming from dairy, goodness coming from fruit or veggie and plant based.
Speaker C:But this is our trademark, I would say.
Speaker B:Okay, so portions, that's, that's, that's kind of the mission.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:What a little treat like it, I mean the Baby Bells, I remember, I mean it was always like this little bit of luxury that we got to have, especially in the US market.
Speaker A:We don't, we don't get to have those little moments of treats.
Speaker B:I can ask you about the goodness part too.
Speaker B:Is the goodness open ended for a strategic reason too?
Speaker B:Like it seems like it may be?
Speaker C:No, I think since the very beginning, you know, at the very beginning we are a cheese maker.
Speaker C:Cheese is just milk and ferment and it's a very traditional know how.
Speaker C:But if you look at the DNA of the company, which is the La Finco, because La Finnco is a brand which is 104 years old already.
Speaker C:So it's on one side the cheese know how.
Speaker C:So goodness coming from milk and dairy.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:And on the other side another know how which is micro mechanics because we have invented the portion.
Speaker C:It was 104 years ago.
Speaker C:Can you imagine that?
Speaker C:So, and in fact we have machine, proprietary machine that are capable to produce at high speed, high velocity this little portion.
Speaker C:So for instance, Baby Bell that you love.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:You will not find any copy, any private label on Baby Bell because we are the only one.
Speaker C:It seems easy.
Speaker C:It's not not able to produce Barbie belches with the wax.
Speaker C:And that's where the true experience Comes from because it's so playful.
Speaker C:You open it and after you play with the red wax, it's really a full experience.
Speaker C:But we stick to one mission, which is the product that we sell come from real wholesome ingredients.
Speaker C:A the milk, a the fruit, a the veg, very minimally processed.
Speaker C:I think that's the beauty of what we offer.
Speaker C:Healthy, sustainable and fun.
Speaker A:Well, you have quite the CPG background.
Speaker A:Tell us a little bit about that and then how you became CEO.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker C:So in fact, I've always, I've always been passionate about food.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:When you look at, when I was young, I was passionate about social human sciences, if I may.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:And because I was passionate about that, I've started in the marketing in food.
Speaker C:Because food is every day, food is cultural, food is social relationship between people.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Food is health of the people, food is health of the planet.
Speaker C:So for all these reasons, I think it's super meaningful to work in this industry.
Speaker C:And I've done most of my career at Danone, where it was already a very purposeful company.
Speaker C:17 years at Danone and where at the very beginning of Danone you have what they call the dual project, social and economical project.
Speaker C:And the reason why I've joined Bell is because first it's a mission led company.
Speaker C:So it means that by status, by law, it's embedded into who we are.
Speaker C:We commit to pilot the company on two legs equally important, performance and sustainability.
Speaker C:But two legs equally important.
Speaker C:And this is a family owned company.
Speaker C:So that the reason why when I have conversation with my shareholders, the only question that they are asking me, are you sure that this is the right decision for the next generation?
Speaker C:Because you know, when you are companies, they are the fifth generation, they want to pass the button to the sixth generation.
Speaker C:That their only purpose.
Speaker C:So there is a different way to run the business.
Speaker C:When you are with that kind of very long term view on things.
Speaker B:That's a good question for every board to be asking, I think.
Speaker B:All right, so what brings you to cgf?
Speaker B:Have you been here before?
Speaker B:I'm assuming you have.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:First of all, you know, I believe that CGF is an exceptional organization and for a very simple reason.
Speaker C:I think this is the only moment like the forum and the only place where you have together manufacturers and retailers working together on how do we transform the food chain into a sustainable, more healthy one and more inclusive one.
Speaker C:And I believe it's a necessity because food is not a business like any others.
Speaker C:And I think it's very important to say it and say it Again, it cannot be a business like any others because food is a human Right.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:As simple as that.
Speaker C:And there are so many things, so many critical things that are embedded in the food from farm to folk, as I was telling you, the well being of the farmers of the world.
Speaker C:Without farmers, we do not feed anyone.
Speaker C:You have within the food value chain, the health of the people.
Speaker C:Relationship between food and health is not to be proven anymore.
Speaker C:We are very clear about that.
Speaker C:But they are the health of the planet.
Speaker C:So food is related to whatever we consume on Earth.
Speaker C:70% of the water used on earth is used all along the food value chain and mainly through agricultural, you know, upstream.
Speaker C:And we all know that we're going to have major water scarcity all over the world.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:So it has to start with us.
Speaker A:So some of those challenges are, you know, industry wide.
Speaker A:So the retail, the CPG industry that are here at Consumer Goods Forum to work towards solutions to those.
Speaker A:What are some of the challenges that you see ahead for your organization specifically as we look to the next couple.
Speaker C:Of years, I think that one of the biggest challenges that we have is we need to work across the value chain.
Speaker C:So if I do not have collaboration partnerships with retailers, I cannot move the system by my own.
Speaker C:I can give you an example.
Speaker C:We work on regenerative agricultural practices.
Speaker C:We sell palm pot or gogo squeeze in the US It's a little pouch in which you have applesauce fruit puree.
Speaker C:So it's a perfect snack.
Speaker C:For the kids, it's only fruits.
Speaker A:And for adults.
Speaker C:And for adults too.
Speaker A:Some adults might consume a gogo squeeze one time or two in a pin.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And if I want to move towards regenerative agriculture, all the orchard, for instance in the US apple or chart I used because you know, it's interesting, we use the apple that are not sold in retailers because they are too small or they doesn't look good.
Speaker C:They're absolutely great.
Speaker C:But consumer, you know, when they buy an apple, they want a nice one.
Speaker C:So you have 20% of the crops that we use to do the applesauce.
Speaker C:So if I want to work with the farmers, as I only represent 20% of their crops, I need to have a partnership with the retailers because they're going to use 80% of their crop.
Speaker C:So we need to go together and tell them we're ready to pay more because the reality is that we have to pay more.
Speaker C:We're ready to pay more if you move towards regenerative practices.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:Makes sense.
Speaker B:That's really interesting.
Speaker B:I've never Thought about the collaboration part of it and the way you're describing too.
Speaker B:The other aspect that we talk a lot about on our show is technology.
Speaker B:I'm curious too, how has technology changed the way you do your job, particularly over the last three years to five years and in particular with the rise of AI too, has that changed things for you?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think data intake is a massive opportunity for us.
Speaker C:I think today, you know, we are at a pivotal moment.
Speaker C:Data intake could do the worst to the world as it can do the best.
Speaker C:So there is a real question for us which is how do we make sure that we use the power of artificial intelligence and data intake to do good?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And when I look at the opportunity we have in front of us, I was mentioning, you know, efficiency in the supply chain.
Speaker C:One third of the food which is produced today is wasted, right?
Speaker C:Yeah, wasted.
Speaker C:Because first of all, consumer at home are not always super aware of the value of food.
Speaker C:But because there is a lot of efficiency in the supply chain.
Speaker C:Another topic which is absolutely massive, we have to support consumer to move towards healthier diet.
Speaker C:And the only way to help them is to start with where they are, their preferences and help them to do what I call the 5 degree shift every day through artificial intelligence.
Speaker C:Retailers will be capable tomorrow and with Genai to have kind of a shopper assistant that will tell them, you know, based on your basket, I see that you love this, I see that you love lasagna.
Speaker C:You buy, you know, have you ever tried veggie lasagna?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And you know, and you provide the recipe and you propose to buy the ingredients so that you can.
Speaker C:So that's the kind of shift, you know, to help them to move, to put more veggie in your plate, put more fruits in your plate.
Speaker C:Food from, you know, more protein, protein coming from dairy, fantastic protein in terms of nutrition but also in terms of environment because you have much less carbon in a dairy protein than in a meat protein.
Speaker C:And I think with an artificial intelligence, you know, shopper assistant, we can, we can really make a big difference in the way people feed themselves.
Speaker C:So meaning in the health of the population.
Speaker A:That's incredibly exciting I think for consumers, for retailers, for CPG companies.
Speaker A:What else are you excited about since.
Speaker C:For the year ahead and you know, at Bell, at the Vision, we want to be the most sustainable and the most innovative company on sustainability.
Speaker C:We've been used to pioneer this for a very long time.
Speaker C:On the innovation.
Speaker C:I believe that again data and tech will be a massive lever on innovation side.
Speaker C:And I'm going to give you an example.
Speaker C:We have a global partnership with a company named Dassault System.
Speaker C:They are with their Biovia brand.
Speaker C:And Biovia is the ones who have invented virtual twins to develop, for instance, new drugs in the pharma industry.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker C:So if you look at the way the food industry today innovate, and it's not only at Bell, it's everywhere, even at the big ones.
Speaker C:You put an engineer in front of a cooker, okay.
Speaker C:A sophisticated one.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:You don't call it a kitchen, you call it a lab.
Speaker C:But I can testify, I can tell you that it's the still a kind of a thermomix.
Speaker C:If I use a bread, a kind of a cooker, and they experiment, they experiment, they experiment.
Speaker C:This is the way we develop food right now.
Speaker C:So you imagine if you start with the belief that a high have that all the solution is available in the topic that we face right now, like how do we decrease the carbon footprint of the food system?
Speaker C:How do we decrease the amount of fat, the amount of sugar added, the amount of animal protein?
Speaker C:Because we know we will not feed 10 billion people with animal protein.
Speaker C:It's impossible.
Speaker C:We already have the data.
Speaker C:So the solution will come from nature.
Speaker C:Everything is available in nature, except that we are not capable to find the right combination of protein coming from nature, of new ingredients coming from nature.
Speaker C:And with virtual twins, what we aim to do is to be capable to, through a virtual, you know, modeling, to experiment in a much broader scale.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker C:And to.
Speaker C:Yes, of course.
Speaker C:And to find the right combination of protein coming from plants, for instance, to be able to have as nutritious, as accessible and as tasty proposition for the future.
Speaker C:And that's what we want to crack with them.
Speaker C:To be the first one to have this virtual twin system helping us to develop, but not taking 100 years to test all the combination possible, but more to have it in days and weeks.
Speaker A:So like consolidating the testing process and development process down to a couple of weeks maybe instead of years.
Speaker B:Scientific too, it sounds like.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And broaden your perspective because I think there's also a lot of things, a lot of combination that the human brain would not think about.
Speaker C:So when you put that in a system which is just a modeling system, they would test and test.
Speaker C:So I'm sure that there is a lot of opportunities and creativity that is in front of us and innovation exactly like it happened in the pharma industry for the last 10 years.
Speaker C:That's exactly what happened at the pharma industry.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And those two worlds are merging every single day.
Speaker B:Pharma and food as well.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Well, thank you, Cecile.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:CEO of the Bell Group.
Speaker B:Thanks for joining us.
Speaker B: ship for our coverage from CGF: Speaker B:We're going to be back later today with more interviews.
Speaker B:And until then, Anne, be careful out there.
