Ter Beke changes company name: What's Cooking?

Belgian food company Ter Beke is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Ter Beke has become known for its charcuterie, savoury snacks and prepared meals. The company resolutely opts for a new chapter with a renewed strategy and a new company name: What's Cooking?

Ter Beke wants to respond to current consumer demand and take a leading role in making the food industry more sustainable. To underline this important shift in its strategy, all the group's activities - including twelve industrial sites in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Poland and the UK together with a number of sales offices in various European countries - will be brought together under the new name and logo What's Cooking? 

Innovation as key pillar in new strategy

By focusing on innovation and accelerating the introduction of new plant-based products, What's Cooking? wants to offer customers and consumers even more choice and join them on the road to sustainability. What's Cooking? will continue to consist of two strategic business units (SBUs): Savoury spreads and Ready-to-eat meals. Savoury, because the focus is no longer on meat, but on charcuterie, spreads and snacks that will increasingly contain vegetable rather than animal proteins. With 'local heroes', the Ready Meals SBU will continue to focus on dishes that are popular in the countries where the group operates, including plant-based choices. 

Sustainability as a new common thread 

In doing so, What's Cooking? immediately links its new business strategy to an ambitious sustainability strategy. The company sets challenging targets around three axes by 2030: Good Food for all, Protect our Planet and Help People flourish.

Piet Sanders, CEO: "Sustainability is a verb. We want to join hands with our partners in the value chain - farmers, suppliers, customers and consumers - to prepare our sector for the future. For instance, by 2030 we want to halve our scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 2021), use 30% less water per tonne of product (compared to 2022) and ensure that a minimum of 15% of our products sold are plant-based or vegetarian. By 2025 we want to bring 100% recyclable packaging to the market and by 2024 we want not only 20% less food waste (compared to 2022) but also 100% green electricity."  

150 million euros in additional investments

Over the past five years, the group invested over 135 million euros in new production lines and energy-saving measures such as additional insulation and heat recovery systems, among others. More than the same amount of investment is planned over the next five years to realise the new strategy and sustainability ambitions: 150 million euros, spread over various projects.

With the new name, the group wants to demonstrate visibly that its ambitious new Strategy 2030 will bring important changes.

Whatscooking.group