Vandelanotte is also a sounding board for every growth leap

Client testimonial Vandelanotte is also a sounding board for every growth leap

"Only the best make money," Stephan Destrooper heard from his father when he told him he wanted to be a baker. Today, Stephan Destrooper's bakery patisserie is a concept in Sint-Idesbald (Koksijde) and the surrounding area. And the dough of its growth plans continues rising impatiently, with support and advice from Vandelanotte. "Vandelanotte takes over everything that's not strictly related to my business. That way I can focus completely on my product," says Stephan Destrooper.

Baking is in the Destroopers' DNA. Stephan Destrooper's great-grandfather sold colonial goods such as tea in Lo-Reninge, but also baked almond bread. That appealed to the English tourists in De Panne, and his son later took over the business. But when Jules junior began to make butter waffles, the bakery stopped and the success story of the 'triumph' of the Jules Destrooper biscuit factory started.

Hector

"My father had realised in the Ter Duinen hotel school that he would have to work at times when everyone else could go out," says Stephan Destrooper. "That's why he started a textile company. He saw a future in that direction for me too, just like my brother who studied engineering. But after I had seen the film 'Hector', I wanted to become a baker like Urbanus. My father agreed, on condition that I first did a summer job at a bakery. And what came of it? Not only was it just what I was looking for, but my impatient nature, which had been something I struggled with at school, turned out to be a great asset here when it came to producing a large volume of products."

Make more to earn more

After a training in Ter Groene Poorte, Stephan Destrooper worked as a pastry chef for three years in renowned companies in Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. After that, he spent four years learning the finer points of entrepreneurship as production manager in his cousins' cookie factory. On his 27th birthday he was ready for his first bakery. "In Beveren a/d IJzer I took over a bankrupt village bakery with my wife. After a few years, however, we got the feeling that it wasn't growing quickly enough. After all, in our sector earnings are limited by production. Because we doubted ourselves and our product, we bought pies and pastries in all the bakeries on the coast for comparison. Then we learnt that it wasn't the quality of our product, but only our location that was slowing down growth."

Your accountant must be a visionary. Stephan Destrooper manager

TV as a catalyst

In 2004 the TV program Fata Morgana landed in Lo-Reninge. One of the challenges was to make a seven-floor wedding cake. For this, Peter and Patrick from the biscuit factory called on their cousin Stephan. "That cake for 10,000 people, with a base of 6 by 3 meters, ensured that suddenly everyone found their way to Beveren a/d IJzer and increased my turnover by 30 percent. But the lure of the coast remained. In 2007 we moved to Sint-Idesbald, after a thorough renovation of our current building where we are currently active with 6 employees. And four years later, the TV took care of the next step, once again. The melo cakes I made for VT4 'De beste bakker van Vlaanderen' (Flanders’ best baker) proved to be such a hit that I had to buy a machine to keep up with production. Currently we make 2,500 each week, and some of these are sold to other bakers in the province."

CHOC YOU! and GENTIEL

Stephan Destrooper realises that growth wouldn’t work without the support and cooperation of his wife Catherine, as well as skilled employees. "The bakery pastry shop in Sint-Idesbald continues to exist under my own name, but we're going to be splitting the chocolate products under the name CHOC YOU! Employees with ambition get the opportunity to participate in this, just like in the story of the artisanal loaves that we market under the name GENTIEL. We didn't just look for ingredients and methods to bring the taste of the loaves to the highest level. Each bread also has a name that refers to someone from my family history or youth. Within this series we also developed a special sandwich for Wim Ballieu's Balls & Glory."

The right adviser

"If you want to do business, it's better not to choose the first accountant," continues Stephan Destrooper. "It has to be a visionary who thinks about how you can grow and make a profit with what you do. Thanks to Vandelanotte I can focus on my product. Everything related to administration is linked to them. With the digital invoicing I gain time and I get a much quicker view of how things stand. My assets have been screened, so that my future is assured both professionally and privately. And also, with every growth decision, such as the investment in machines or a new building, they are my sounding board that support my gut feeling with numbers. It's important to think ahead and not to wait for the annual accounts to give advice."

Continuing traditions

The story of Stephan Destrooper is interspersed with growth leaps, but its starting point is respect for traditions and passing on of what works. This is also reflected in Vandelanotte. "Hein Vandelanotte and Ann Lauwers helped me start up in Beveren in 2000. Jan Plasman has been our advisor for four years now, but Ann is still with us and for crucial decisions I can still go to Hein Vandelanotte himself. You notice that Vandelanotte is also a family business, where people aren't just quickly accessible, but a lot of attention is also paid to the long-term relationship. That imparts plenty of confidence," concludes Stephan Destrooper.