Mireille Kaptein Businesswoman of the Year 2019

Mireille Kaptein, Managing Director of Kaptein, the flexible packer of cheese and butter and producer of processed cheese and powder cheese, has been named Businesswoman of the Year 2019.

At the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, Kaptein, who has managed the family business for over ten years with branches in Heiloo, Oosthuizen and in Bilzen, Belgium, received the prestigious Prix Veuve Clicquot, Business Woman of the Year Award, from Marry de Gaay Fortman, chairman of the board of Topvrouwen.nl.

Jury chairman Annemarie Jorritsma and minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Public Works) were absent during the austere meeting in connection with the terrorist crisis in Utrecht.

Mireille Kaptein, the 38th Businesswoman in a row in the Netherlands, was very honoured with the prize, which came as a surprise to her. I see the prize as an encouragement to all entrepreneurial women in the Netherlands. My advice to all of them: don't let a ceiling, whether it be made of glass or concrete, keep your eyes open for your ambitions, your company and seize your chance," Kaptein said.

Since 1981, the Prix Veuve Clicquot has been awarded in the Netherlands to exceptionally successful business women, including Anne-Marie Rakhorst, Elske Doets, Meiny Prins, Sylvia Tóth, Yolanda Eijgenstein, Francine Houben and last year to Aukje Kuypers. They all stand in the tradition of widow Nicole-Barbe Clicquot-Ponsardin, who in the 19th century, after the death of her husband, was the basis for the flowering of the famous champagne house from Reims.

The jury of the Businesswoman election is led by former Minister of Economic Affairs Annemarie Jorritsma and also consists of VNO NCW chairman Hans de Boer, MKB-Nederland foreman Jacco Vonhof, ABP chairman Corinne Wortman-Kool and the businesswoman of the past year Aukje Kuypers.

Mireille Kaptein (46) is the third generation of the Kaptein family that manages the fast-growing dairy company (founded in 1936). The company, with a turnover of over €90 million and 180 employees, produces melting and powder cheese and packs cheese and butter on a large scale.

Kaptein has an extremely strong position in the Netherlands, including its own brand 'Echte Boter' (known from the butter cups), Old Alkmaar and Alkmaars Roem. Kaptein's dairy products are exported to more than 55 countries around the world.

Mireille Kaptein: ,,We have ambitions to continue to grow, to innovate further and also to produce and package more sustainably. Not only because the market demands it, but also because we ourselves believe that things can be done differently; better, more sustainable but within the rules that apply in the field of food safety and hygiene.