Chairman's Award 2015
Chairman's Award 2015
The Chairman’s Award was conceived in 1995 by Klaus Jacobs, the late former Chairman of Jacobs Holding AG and founder of Barry Callebaut. Recipients of the annual award are individuals who embody the Barry Callebaut values of customer focus, passion, entrepreneurship, team spirit and integrity.
This year's emotional Chairman's Award Ceremony was held on August 20, 2015 in a historic house in downtown Zurich. A suitable setting for Barry Callebaut's Chairman Andreas Jacobs and CEO Juergen Steinemann, who took turns in honoring the 13 winners from 11 countries and handing over the personalized glass awards.
The Chairman's Award was founded 21 years ago by my late father. You are 13 out of 9500 Barry Callebaut employees who won this award. You are here to be celebrated, and you can be proud of what you have done.
I'm very happy that Barry Callebaut and the Jacobs family are investing in people. Good results are made by good people. If we had more people like you, we would be even more successful.
The portraits of this year's winners
Pramin Tansiri
Logistics Coordinator, Singapore
Pramin loves to help other and shines with his persistent smile. He is always willing to help, take on additional tasks and he coaches the team towards improving the workflow.
Pramin volunteered at the 1st Summer Youth Olympic 2010 in Singapore where he worked as a traffic coordinator. He volunteered again for the 28th South East Asian Games and was assigned with the position "Information Service Officer". He also financially supports his nephew's studies in Thailand.
Jurinah Othman
Quality Assurance Technician, Port Klang, Malaysia
Jurinah is a particularly loyal and trustworthy worker who consistently meets deadlines and is exceptionally diligent. She demonstrated her ability to adapt changes when we introduced SAP in Port Klang. Jurinah engaged in a special training before the start of SAP and worked many extra hours to be on top of the project.
Jurinah is a member of the local government and actively participates in all its activities, like attending speeches and helping out during elections. She does all that in addition to being a caring and loving mother of five children.
George Zhang
Warehouse Supervisor, Suzhou, China
George is a remarkably responsible team member, committed to continuous improvement and keeping risks under control. He adapts quickly to shifting priorities and takes initiative whenever he sees need for change to benefit the company.
George volunteered in promoting traffic safety in Suzhou. On weekends he helps removing litter in his community together with his family.
Douglas Torp
F&D Food Technologist, Pennsauken, USA
Doug is often first volunteer for internal committees and company initiatives. It's no surprise that he is also this year's "Water for Life Champion" at Pennsauken.
Doug has been a voluntary fire-fighter since he was 16 years old. He is also an emergency care taker and drives the ambulance. Doug volunteers annually with special Olympics and is active in the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Doug has also volunteered for the local Ebola response team in his community.
Elis Pereira Silvério
R&D Specialist, Extrema, Brazil
Elis substantially helps to expand our horizon of new recipes and manages with great focus. She invented and produced samples that were forwarded to customers and finally led to agreements and deliveries.
Elis strongly supports a house of support for elderly people. She creates and produces handcraft with the eldest and sells their art items to generate extra income for the community.
Jesus Caetano
IT Supervisor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jesus is a detail-oriented team player and an engaged employee. His attitude is very entrepreneurial and he constantly identifies opportunities to save costs and to improve the service level.
Jesus helps an institution managed by Christian nuns. They take care of children under judicial custody due to family conflicts. Jesus is conducting a project of installing and maintaining a computer lab for the institution. This will be done with donations of old computers which Jesus and his friends refurbish, upgrade and make usable.
Jorge Uriel Tobias Mascorro
Central Planning, Monterrey, Mexico
Jorge is a very engaged and passionate employee. He sets the pace for others to follow and goes the extra mile with a lot of enthusiasm. Jorge reduced stock levels of cocoa beans and cocoa liquor based on the demand, and he improved sales forecast accuracy for the Mexican market.
Jorge contributes to the local community through his coaching of young couples in Monterrey in their early years of family life. He engages them in discussions to share experiences in love, faith, friendship and integrity.
Stefano Ventura
R&D Project Manager, San Sisto, Italy
Stefano is a hard-working employee who keeps calm under pressure while pursuing his deadlines and objectives with a strong perseverance. He is a grounded and confident person and is highly respected by his colleagues and friends.
Stefano volunteers in the local parish, guiding a group of married couples and families. He also assists in giving training to young engaged couples and he supports a fundraising campaign "from water to water" project.
Katrien Geys
Receptionist, Wieze, Belgium
Katrien's combination of a strong, steady customer focus and her smile make every visitor feel warmly and sweetly welcome. She is a role model in flexibility, pro-actively proposing solutions to problems wherever she encounters them.
Katrien is a volunteer in a retirement home where she guides elderly people during trips, organizes local events, games, goes walking with the ones in wheelchairs and serves in their canteen.
Hendrik Van der Linden
Technician, Wieze, Belgium
Hendrik is always looking for possibilities to improve his working environment, and he always aims to provide a real impact to his daily work.
Hendrik picks up disabled people to accompany them to the doctor and hospital. He helps to prepare and serve the Christmas meals which is offered to poor people in his town. Hendrik is a sportive person and uses his holidays to guide young football players in football camps.
Yolande Api Koua
Logistics, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Yolande is in charge of supervising every delivery of beans from Vridi. She takes initiatives wherever she recognizes potential for improvement which she then addresses with high priority.
Yolande is a member of the Hygiene and Safety Committee Working Conditions. She is also member of different steering committees of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities like hospital and school openings. Yolande volunteered to educate her colleagues on Ebola and she organizes a Christmas celebration for disadvantaged children.
Wisdom Nuworti
Control Room Operator, Tema, Ghana
Wisdom achieved the highest level of productivity on the two cocoa lines at a time when the plant was facing many technical challenges. His upbeat and optimistic attitude creates a working environment that is unique.
Wisdom participates in activities aimed at improving the livelihoods of members of his community. He took the initiative to organize regular cleaning exercises in the area where he lives and he also proposed the design of a drainage system for waste water disposal which was accepted and fully realized for his community.
Derry Muhari Wachyudi
Process Superintendent, Bandung, Indonesia
Derry is a true specialist and reached outstanding achievement with the press machine. He always fives full support to everybody.
Derry lives in Bandung near a big river. Almost every year the area is flooded and people who live there must leave their houses to the temporary shelters which are provided by the government. To help ease the misery, Derry volunteers annually with colleagues in the neighborhood to raise funds, to collect clothes as well as food which he distributes to those who need it most.