Speakers

Worldwide market leader of the frozen food potato products, McCain Foods is a Canadian family-owned business founded in 1957 with more than 20,000 employees and 50 production facilities on six continents. McCain produces many other fine food products as well, from desserts and vegetables to pizzas, oven-ready entrées, appetizers and more.

Prior to his current position, Jean Bernou served as McCain Chief Executive Officer for Southern Europe and was made responsible for the construction of the Continental Europe entity. He had previously held several Managing Director assignments within McCain, including France, flagship of the company in Continental Europe. Holder of a Chemical Engineering degree, Jean started his career in 1977 in manufacturing at Procter & Gamble, the worldwide leader for soap and detergents. He grew inside the European organization of this company, holding several positions in production, human resources, finance, logistics, information systems and engineering. In 1992 Jean joined Peaudouce-Mölnlycke, a European leader in the paper products market (diapers, feminine hygiene, medical paper products…) as site manager in France and got increasing responsibilities in this company: Manufacturing, R&D and Engineering Director, Managing Director of Spain, Managing Director of the European Private Label division. He left Peaudouce-Mölnlycke for McCain in 1995.

Jean is also the Executive Vice-President of the “Coeur et artères” foundation, an organization focused on public benefit and supporting research to fight heart and artery diseases. He sits on the boards of AIM, the European Brands Association and EUPPA, the European Potato Processors’ Association. Jean is the President of “Bon et Bien”, a social business created by McCain in partnership with the French Retailer Leclerc and Randstad, which produces soups by transforming misshaped raw material and redistribute its profit to action for employment of long-term unemployed people.