Bel, a major player in the cheese, fruit and vegetable snacking industry, is collaborating with Accenture to accelerate its business reinvention.
Selecting Accenture in the face of major digital transformation ambitions
For over 150 years, Bel has successfully innovated to offer iconic products to consumers and continues its development by providing innovative, healthy and always accessible products to all. Recently, the company has embarked on a large and ambitious digital transformation journey, to build future-ready digital capabilities and deliver foundational and innovative technology solutions to support profitable and sustainable growth.
Bel has chosen Accenture to execute its digital transformation plans, enabling it to remain at the forefront of tech-led innovation. It will pair expertise in consumer goods, sustainability, digital engineering and manufacturing with data, AI and other technology solutions to help Bel become more resilient and agile and create new value and growth.
Scope of the collaboration: from production efficiency to faster time-to-market
While this collaboration extends throughout Bel’s end-to-end digitization roadmap, it focuses on the execution of a set of major interconnected projects:
- Increasing production efficiency: Accenture is supporting Bel in the deployment of a common Manufacturing Execution System (MES) across Bel’s 11 core food and dairy factories worldwide to standardize and continuously optimize production processes. This key step in building the foundation of a digital infrastructure will improve the monitoring of machinery and equipment performance, production efficiency and product quality. Manual processes will be transformed into efficient digital workflows to build data driven factories and enable Bel to adopt best practices that reduce waste, energy and water consumption.
- Improving logistics and supply chains: Accenture is teaming up with Bel to set up an advanced planning solution for the company. This AI-powered solution enhances material and product inventory, enabling Bel to better anticipate shifts in customer demand. This helps reduce costs, ensure steady product availability for consumers and contributes to the company’s 2035 goal to lower its emissions by 25%.
- Bringing products to the market faster: Accenture will assist Bel to introduce enhanced data capabilities to the company’s product lifecycle management. These new capabilities will give Bel real-time access to regulatory, product and quality data across all functions, enhancing visibility at every stage of product development. This improved insight will enable better-informed and smarter decision-making throughout the product lifecycle and help accelerate time-to-market.
- Orchestrating business transformation: Accenture is helping Bel organize and coordinate its transformation projects effectively. The goal is to successfully steer strategic initiatives, ensure synergy and cross-functional collaboration across the organization, and deliver measurable improvements. This involves establishing clear program management and building a strong team of people responsible for overseeing various business process workflows. A continuous learning and upskilling program will encourage people to adopt new ways of working and drive lasting impact across key business functions, further supporting the transformation effort.
Cécile Béliot, CEO of Bel Group, said: “Bel’s goal is to set a new standard in responsible and profitable food manufacturing. To achieve it, we have embarked on a massive transformation, and Accenture shares our commitment to make it a success. Moreover, they bring the necessary digital engineering and manufacturing capabilities, technology, industry and domain expertise in sustainability, rock-solid project management and an outstanding commitment to deliver excellence at all times. Accenture, as our trusted reinvention partner, ensures that Bel can focus on what matters most—providing healthy, affordable and sustainable food for all.”
Elisabeth Ellison-Davis, Chief Strategy & Transformation at Bel Group, said: “This initiative goes far beyond modernizing our operations. It carries a story of impact. We will develop a fully connected supply chain, optimize our logistics flows and expand responsible practices, while eventually incorporating technologies such as AI to reduce time to market and drive productivity. To reinvent ourselves, we must involve all functions of the organization—from R&D to the production and marketing of our products—to impact consumers worldwide. Accenture will be a strategic digital partner and co-pilot of Bel’s technology and data transformation across all areas. Together, we have designed a tailored collaboration, conceived to empower us to make a difference in our market.”
Julie Sweet, Chairman and CEO, Accenture, said: “With its innovative transformation, Bel has taken a bold step forward in realizing its vision of producing healthy, affordable food for all with more efficiency, greater sustainability and faster speed. Accenture is proud to serve as Bel’s reinvention partner and help modernize its supply chain with technology, data and AI and lay a strong foundation for new value creation and growth. Our partnership breaks exciting new ground for how the healthy snacking industry can better serve its consumers.”
Koen Deryckere, Market Unit Lead for France and Benelux, Accenture, said: “Accenture is a global company with a deep European identity and French roots, and we are proud to collaborate with Bel Groupe, whose products are loved and trusted by hundreds of millions of consumers around the world. Through our work together across its supply chain and a relentless focus on innovation through technology, data and AI, we will help Bel become even more resilient, better navigate uncertainty and respond faster to quickly changing market demands. Grounded in our shared values and driven by our joint commitment to the future of food, together we can help everyone enjoy healthier and more sustainable food options.”
