T H E R E IS S P E C U LO O S, AN D T H E R E I S V E R M E I R E N P RINCEP S... . . . A RT I S A N A L S PE C U LO O S.

Our activities Vermeiren Princeps bakes honest and delicious speculoos in the traditional way and is still using the original production process. The biscuits are baked the way grandmother and grandfather used to bake them, but with innovative technological know-how. Hence, the crispy speculoos still has the authentic taste of the past, but is now even more delicious and healthy. There is speculoos. And there is Vermeiren Princeps … … artisanal speculoos The difference?

The fully automatic ovens bake about 1500 tons of biscuits annually: traditional speculoos, whole wheat speculoos with real honey, fully certified organic speculoos, sugar-free almond biscuits, speculoos with real Belgian chocolate chips ...

At Vermeiren Princeps, the biscuit dough is still slowly kneaded and moulded, with specially developed machines that mimic the craftsmanship of yesteryear.

Available in various types of packaging, including individual packaging for the catering industry, whether or not under private label.

In fact, Vermeiren Princeps has always been ahead of its time. The bakery has always baked natural speculoos without preservatives, colourings and artificial flavours. These days everyone wants to eat healthy and tasty food. Some remain faithful to the traditional flavours. Others prefer healthy, organic or Fair Trade products.

Then the dough is allowed to rest for 24 hours. Only then it is baked: extra slow and at a very high temperature.

At Vermeiren Princeps all types are equally delicious anyway.

The authentic taste of the past without compromise. For conscious consumers of today, who know what they want to eat.

Last year we added another successful product, the speculoos spread made with the traditional Vermeiren speculoos.

Depending on the type, the speculoos is sweetened with real brown candy sugar, raw cane sugar or real pure honey. But definitely not with syrups or refined sugars. No preservatives, no artificial colouring, no animal fats and no artificial flavours.

For Vermeiren Princeps quality always comes first. The production process was automated in function of the product, without compromising the artisanal quality of the speculoos.

The theme for 2011 is further market expansion, mainly individual packaging and speculoos spread. Also, a luxury segment range will be launched.

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Our export activities A brief overview Our history Vermeiren has been known as a baker’s family since 1650. Back then every baker had his own recipe. Fat, herbs and honey were added to the leftovers of bread dough. The result was a full-flavoured spice cake which could be stored for a long time. The Vermeiren bakery was first located in the center of Puurs. Vermeiren was a typical village baker who, besides bread, also baked speculoos figures. In 1919 Achilles Vermeiren decided to only bake speculoos for ‘resellers’.

The two ridges, characteristic of a ‘Vermeiren’ speculoos, and the higgledypiggledy corners and edges have remained the trademark of the company. Incidentally these ridges were patented as the specific form of a Vermeiren speculoos. Our export activities are expanding Demand continued to grow and at the end of the eighties the second baking line was put into service. In 1989 the first speculoos made with organic flour was baked.

In 1947 Achilles moved to Hingene-Bornem with his sons Albert and Arthur and converted an old brewery into a speculoos bakery. A year later, Albert built the first semi-automatic oven with his own hands.

Due to the development of these organic biscuits, export activities increased steadily, since these biscuits had an excellent price/quality ratio. The fully automatic production process of non-organic biscuits could be taken over completely. Especially in France and Italy, sales increased because of this.

At the end of the sixties this oven was replaced by new automatic oven (converted in-house). Because with an ordinary oven one cannot bake authentic artisanal speculoos. Therefore, Albert and Arthur carried out a number of innovative changes.

Through the existing Belgian buyers that also had branches in these two countries, our products were introduced there as well. The organic speculoos has an honest qualityprice ratio and due to this had great success from the start.

During the fifties, the first version of speculoos came on the market: ‘Voltarwe ‘speculoos with whole-wheat flour. The name ‘Voltarwespeculoos’ was invented by grandfather Achilles. This speculoos did get the same shape as the other speculoos.

Sugar-free biscuits have increased the export exponentially Those who follow a low sugar diet, also want to enjoy their food. Therefore, in the middle of the nineties sugar free biscuits sweetened with maltitol were marketed.

This variant also had great success from the start on foreign markets, which increased the share of the export figure exponentially. With this range we created new openings, apart from the traditional markets, for sales in the Middle East, where traditionally there are many diabetics because of the greater sucrose intolerance of the population. Our new recipes are also appreciated abroad Meanwhile, we also experimented with variations on the traditional recipe. In 2000 Vermeiren Princeps surprised all gourmets with the traditional speculoos with almonds chips or chocolate chips. These variants are also doing very well abroad (Japan / Australia) and especially the link with the Belgian chocolate is important. Thanks to customized packaging for these specific countries our products are successful there too. Fair Trade – speculoos, a stable foundation for success abroad As an innovative company with the heart in the right place Vermeiren Princeps has been producing ‘Fair Trade’ speculoos since 1997. Since 2005, also available with the Max Havelaar label. Here striving for solidarity and quality go hand in hand. In countries like the UK where the share of fair trade is high, this means a stable base

of success and from 2007 onwards we became less dependent on seasonal sales (2005-2006). Individual packaging is the recipe for further export growth In 2006, Vermeiren Princeps introduced individually wrapped speculoos. Now you can also enjoy a delicious speculoos with your cup of coffee or tea in catering establishments. Also here the sales are mainly generated abroad. Amongst others, Spain is a real success story. Since the biscuits are sold under the Vermeiren brand name, this contributes to the international brand recognition and our products also find their way to the retail business and thus the necessary rotation is assured. Our speculoos spread is conquering the world The successful product of the last two years is the speculoos spread. It is still a largely Belgian story, but in the meantime there has been quite an international interest with markets in South Africa, the United States, Netherlands and France. The seven types of speculoos and biscuits are still baked in the bakery in Bornem. The two fully automatic baking lines bake 1500 tonnes annually for customers at home and abroad.

5 Vermeiren’s strategy is built on three pillars: innovation, flexibility and quality. Our unique, high quality biscuits in sophisticated packaging appeal to new markets and customers.

In 2004, Vermeiren introduced individually wrapped biscuits. Because of the great success, we tripled capacity in 2009 by investing in a fully automated packaging system.

Consumers at home and abroad are increasingly aware of the importance of healthy and above all pure nutrition and therefore opt for Vermeiren speculoos, because it is a 100% plant-derived product and thus contains no milk, eggs or animal fat and no colourings, flavourings or sweeteners.

As an innovative company with the heart in the right place Vermeiren Princeps produces ‘Fair Trade’ speculoos with the Max Havelaar label. In countries like the UK where the share of Fair Trade is high, this means a stable base of success and therefore we are less dependent on seasonal sales.

Due to the steady growth in turnover and customer base, Vermeiren experienced an acute lack of space. This will be solved in 2011 with the completion of a 2652 m2 warehouse for packaging materials and finished products. In the future, the warehouse will also serve as a production space.

Since early this year Vermeiren has started developing a luxury segment. The famous Vermeiren Belgian Speculoos is now available in the shape of typical Bruges houses which together constitute a whole street.

Innovation Launching new products Vermeiren Princeps responds to attractive growth markets such as the organic and the Fair Trade market.

Since the term ‘speculoos’ is not known in all countries, this way the speculoos products are becoming better known. In 2007, two additional organic products were launched in customized multilingual packaging. Also high- volume markets such as the catering industry have in recent years developed an interest due to the launch of a range of individually wrapped biscuits, which are particularly successful mainly in export markets. Also the launch of Vermeiren speculoos spread is an innovation valued by our export markets.

Sustainability Targeted participation in research projects In view of the future, especially the changing dietary habits of the consumers, our company has participated for 3 years in research projects on sugar and fat reduction, organized by Flanders Food, the competence pool for the Flemish food industry. At present we are participating in the research project on the use of Stevia, a pure plant derived sweetener with a sweetening power 300 times higher than that of sucrose. This creates the opportunity in the foreseeable future to market a 100% plant-derived biscuit, without added sugar (and without artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame-K, without polyols).

Sustainability is a strategic mission ‘Producing high quality products that are as natural and healthy as possible, in a sustainable manner, nutritionally balanced, and at a competitive and realistic price’. Sustainable entrepreneurship also means innovation. We are collaborating with machine manufacturers to study how portioned packaging can improve the ecological footprint of current food production. Studies show that on average only 75% of food in large packages is consumed. Contrary to what is assumed, the ecological footprint of portioned packaging (with more packing materials) is much smaller than the ecological footprint of non-consumed food. Moreover, it is of the utmost importance for the consumer and the stakeholder that the growing world population is fed in the most efficient way, an interest which coincides with the need to be careful with our earth.

This will also in the future have a positive impact on employment, as was already the case in the past. Stevia

Sustainable consumption of raw materials Sustainable consumption of raw materials has long been a full-fledged theme in our company: by separating waste (paper/cardboard, plastics, wood, metal, food waste processed into animal feed), we succeeded in limiting the nonrecyclable waste to an average of 100 kg a week and this with a total production of 1500 tonnes / year. Furthermore Vermeiren invested in solar panels to generate electricity.

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Our export activities Marketing Website Our website is mainly export-oriented with detailed information (with separate access for customers via login to consult e.g. technical data sheets).

Future prospects • Opportunities in retail. For this purpose we achieved the British Retail Consortium Certification last year, which is necessary to be able to sell to retail businesses globally.

Principles of our export policy • Participation in major international trade fairs • ISM International Sweets and Biscuits Fair - Cologne • ANUGA: the largest international food exhibition in the world - Cologne • SIAL: le Salon International de l’Agroalimentaire - Paris • SIRHA: le Salon international de la restauration, de l’hôtellerie et de l’alimentation-Lyon • IFE: International Food and Drink Exhibition - London • GULFOOD: The Gulf Food, Hotel and Equipment Exhibition - Dubai • FOODEX: Specialized food exhibition for Asia-Tokyo • FOOD & HOTEL TRADE SHOW - Singapore

Vermeiren ‘s awards Vermeiren nominated for the 2010 ‘Leeuw van de Export’ award

Vermeiren speculoos spread winner of the Golden Archer Award 2009 The Vermeiren Princeps Speculoos spread has been named the 2010 winner in the segment of spreads and jams by the Belgian Committee for Distribution ! The ‘Golden Archers’ are presented annually by the Belgian Committee for Distribution and its magazine ‘Distributie vandaag’ (Distribution Today).

2010

In 2010 Vermeiren already took part in the “Leeuw van de export” and was then one of the nominees.

This prize is awarded to new food and non-food products that are not only the most innovative and deliver the best performance, but also please the consumers because they meet their expectations for innovation and quality. The jury is composed of +/- 250 purchasing and sales managers of Belgian distribution companies.

This Vermeiren Speculoos spread is prepared using the same authentic speculoos recipe upon which Vermeiren Speculoos has built its excellent reputation since 1919. For the speculoos spread we kept the authentic flavour of the biscuit, with only the finest natural ingredients (real blonde candy sugar and raw cane sugar) and spices. The dough is kneaded gently and after a night’s rest, the dough is moulded into the well known Vermeiren biscuit and baked slowly at high temperature. To make the spread the biscuits are ground into a fine powder. Pure vegetable oils and fats are added to make the paste spreadable.

All this while still using the traditional artisanal production process. And, as with Vermeiren speculoos, no syrups, salt or animal fats, no preservatives, colourings or flavourings are added.

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olution. Nous avons décidé d’emballer loos. Et nous ne faisons pas les choses à que nous emballions séparément vos our vous. Notre désir d’hospitalité n’a pas

IREN PRINCEPS N.V. 73 - 2880 Bornem - BELGIUM 15 40 - Fax. +32 (0)3 897 15 49 ps.be - [email protected]

CRISP & CRUNCHY SPECULOOS Craquants & Croquants

lgian e B t s e n i F Biscuits

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VERMEIREN PRINCEPS N.V. Klein Mechelen 73 - 2880 Bornem - BELGIUM Phone +32 (0)3 897 15 40 - Fax. +32 (0)3 897 15 49 www.vermeirenprinceps.be - [email protected]