Cristine Laforest leads Group Bel Canada with a focus on sustainability and growth
“The easy option is often cheaper in the short term, but we know the long-term cost of not acting is much higher.”
Cristine Laforest, BComm 86, CEO of Group Bel Canada, says leadership today requires balancing performance with long-term responsibility.
That philosophy was recently recognized with the Prix PDG Vert, honouring executives advancing measurable sustainability impact in the province of Quebec and beyond.
For Laforest, the award is less a personal milestone than a reflection of how the food industry is evolving.
“It’s part of who we are,” she says of Group Bel Canada’s approach to sustainability. “If you don’t make money, then you cannot invest in sustainability. It becomes a virtuous circle.”
Group Bel Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Group Bel, a global cheese and healthy snacking giant founded in France in 1865 and celebrated for iconic dairy brands like The Laughing Cow, Babybel and Boursin.
Today, the group operates in more than 120 countries and is increasingly focused on reducing its environmental footprint while maintaining growth in a competitive global food market.
Laforest’s path to her executive role began on Concordia’s Loyola Campus in the mid-1980s, where she studied marketing.
“It was a good time,” she reflects. “It was about studying, but also enjoying life on campus.”
A francophone, Laforest recalls having many English-speaking friends from Montreal’s West Island at Concordia. She says her early academic adjustment in English coursework was less about language overall and more about technical terminology.
After graduating, she was recruited on campus by Procter & Gamble, launching a career in consumer goods that would take her through marketing and sales roles at companies including Saputo and Yoplait, as well as a formative period living and working abroad.
“I moved to Europe for a while and taught skiing in the Alps,” says Laforest, who was on Concordia’s ski team as an undergraduate. “I’m someone who likes to enjoy life. I believed things would lead me somewhere.”
She joined Group Bel Canada nearly two decades ago and advanced through senior marketing and executive roles before becoming CEO.
“I had a mentor who gave me the confidence that I could do anything in life if I found solutions and believed in myself,” Laforest says. “She made a huge difference.”
Building a career in consumer goods and leadership
Today, Laforest leads Group Bel Canada through ongoing transformation in sustainability and local production. The company has invested in packaging innovation, waste reduction and farm-level partnerships aimed at lowering emissions in dairy supply chains.
“The easy option is often cheaper in the short term,” she says. “But we know the long-term cost of not acting is much higher.”
Initiatives include food waste reduction programs with Food Banks Canada and efforts to redirect surplus products that cannot be sold but remain safe for consumption.
“If a pallet falls and the outer box is damaged but the product inside is fine, we donate it,” she says. “It’s about finding solutions across the entire system.”
Laforest says that sense of purpose is increasingly central to employee engagement, which she says exceeds 80 per cent.
“People want purpose,” she notes. “They want to feel they are making a difference.”
When hiring, Laforest prioritizes mindset over formal credentials — career advice she has also shared with her son Gabriel Péladeau, BComm 26, a recent John Molson School of Business finance graduate who currently works at RBC.
“I look at curiosity, communication and engagement,” she says. “Are you involved? Are you willing to learn? Do you read? These things matter more than anything else.”
Looking back on her career — from business school to leading a company — Laforest observes that she never followed a fixed plan.
“I was never someone who had everything mapped out,” she says. “But if you stay curious and keep moving forward, you find your way and create opportunities for yourself.”