18 Dec Interview | A new General Manager at Ennolys
Jean de Lataillade has been with the Lesaffre Group for ten years, and has become Managing Director of Ennolys in 2023. In this interview, he tells us about his career path, and Ennolys’ values and ambitions for the coming years.
First of all, can you tell us about your career at Lesaffre?
I joined Lesaffre in Shanghai in 2013, to manage the “Greater China” region. At this time, we were operating two industrial sites producing yeasts, yeast extracts, and baking ingredients, which we grew in capacity and improved in performance. In 2015, we conducted the acquisition of a third site producing yeasts and yeast extracts.
Then, from 2016 to 2023, I presided over the Latin America region, with initially five yeast plants and five ingredient’s workshops. We continued to develop our capacities, improved product quality, built three liquid sourdough workshops, acquired a yeast factory, and finally launched the construction of a new yeast plant in Brazil. The latter is based on the principles of the circular economy.
As Managing Director of Ennolys, do you share the same values as the Lesaffre Group?
Absolutely! I think we find the five values of the Lesaffre Group at Ennolys: passion, humility, entrepreneurial spirit, trust, and finally respect. In my opinion, two of them are particularly expressed at Ennolys. First, the entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrated by the polyvalence of our workshops and teams, and by the diversity of the applications we serve. Second, humility: given the complexity of our fermentation and post-treatment processes, we can only develop this value, which in my opinion is also a great strength.
What are Ennolys’ ambitions for the coming years?
Over the decades, we have acquired a unique know-how in fermentation and Down Stream Processing, built high performance production workshops, and developed technical skills that are quite distinctive. Our ambition now is to capture the full value of these investments, mainly by developing our contract manufacturing activity and innovating to diversify our product portfolio. As the leading Lesaffre Business Unit (BU) in bacterial fermentation, we will also continue to offer our production services to the other BU’s of the Group.
What are the advantages of working for a group like Lesaffre?
The benefits of working with Lesaffre are numerous, beginning with the purpose. Participating in Lesaffre’s mission to ‘Work together to better feed and protect the planet’ provides a genuine sense of meaning to our work. Additionally, there is the impact. Contributing to Lesaffre’s goal to ‘reveal the infinite potential of micro-organisms and fermentation’ is both a tangible reality and an immensely satisfying promise.
The strengths of the family-owned Group, which has been firmly industrial for 170 years, its investment capacity, and its determination to make a useful contribution give us great confidence in our future. Our values and operating methods are reflected in the way we build sustainable solutions together. They enable each one of us to play an impactful role on a global scale.
As a company that strikes a balance of size and agility, we have the resources to make a meaningful impact on the world while remaining connected to our markets and regions through small, agile teams. This approach empowers our employees to continually innovate and challenge themselves, while remaining focused on our shared mission. Our approach empowers employees to innovate and challenge themselves, while remaining focused on our shared mission. Our culture is based on sharing ideas and listening, creating opportunities for everyone to express themselves and shape their own career.