WHO WE ARE
Alexis den Beer Poortugael
Partner - COO
After getting his MBA in FIU Miami in 2005, Alexis started to work at a Benelux based claims management company called Interlloyd Group, managing key accounts such as Pioneer and Yamaha. Subsequently, Alexis worked for a year at ING in the Debt Capital Markets team. End of 2007, Alexis was approached by Arizona Beverages to launch the brand in Europe. The 10 years after that have been an amazing ride!
Pieter van den Akker
Partner - CEO
Has over 20 years experience in the beverage world, 10 years at executive level from Country Manager to Innovation Director for RTD Nestea & Nescafe. Being bored with the “corporates”, he got out in 2007, to help beverage start ups grow internationally. In 2009 Pieter joined BearField to help develop AriZona and Caipi One in Europe. Life is too short...
Philippe den Beer Poortugael
Partner - CMO
Started his career in 2003 at a start-up ad agency in NY, working in all the different aspects of the trade from creative to account & project management. He left NY to find a position at BBDO in Brussels, working with clients such as Volvo, Gillette, Oral B, Braun & Bayer. End of 2007, Philippe was approached by Arizona Beverages to launch the brand in Europe. Why be in advertising if you can build brands like AriZona and....
Pavol Kanuch
Business Development Director
Pavol has more than 20-year experience in FMCG marketing management and business development, incl. cross-national marketing strategies & communication leadership, market strategy development and coordination of execution plans. Led number of successful innovations within different FMCG categories in multiple European markets. Experienced in operations management and multi-task projects coordination. Holding Executive MBA degree from University of Minnesota, able to communicate in 5 languages.
Stefan Schmidt-George
Sales Director Germany
Over 25 years in Sales FMCG and over 15 years in Beverages. Worked on all levels in Sales for national and international Groups like Unilever, Danone, Apollinaris & Schweppes and Valensina. After working together on AriZona in the last two years, he joined BearField in 2015 to be responsible for the sales development in the German Market. “Age is not a disease, it is acquired capital!”
Paul Corten
Business Development Manager
Paul brings +12 years experience in different commercial roles.
After succeeding Masters Degree Law at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam he developed experience within Account Management, Trade Marketing and Category Management. He did this within leading FMCG companies like Heineken, Ahold, Bacardi and Reckitt Benckiser across multiple European markets and categories.
Paul shows a proven track record for the portfolio sales and development,
pricing and promotion strategy, relationship management, setting short and long term strategy.
Linda Glastra
Director of Operations
Linda joined Bearfield beginning of 2012 and has been an invaluable addition to the team. Prior to Bearfield, Linda worked 4 years for CoolCarré BV, as the personal assistant of both partners and responsible for all secretarial duties. Up to 2008, Linda worked for nearly 10 years as the assistant of the management and marketing department heads of an event planning company.
Mbuyi Groenewold
Group Brand Manager
After completing her Bachelor International Business and Languages and Master’s Degree in Marketing at VU University Amsterdam, Mbuyi developed experience in Marketing, Sales & Trade Marketing.
She did this within leading FMCG companies such as Pernod Ricard, Coty and Kao Corporation working for brands such as Absolut Vodka, Havana Club, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, John Frieda and Guhl.Mbuyi shows a proven track record in (re)building brands, ATL & BTL support, pricing & promotion strategy, managing NPDs, and setting short and long-term strategies.
Stefan Smeets
Sales Manager
Stefan graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a Master’s degree in Business Studies and a specialization in strategy, organization and entrepreneurship.
Viktor Negyesi
Financial Manager
After graduating at School of Management in Budapest he started his career at IBM and Nokia in accounting and VAT departments. While working in different finance and controlling functions he learned how to thrive in dynamic and fast changing environments and got expertise in setup and professionalization of finance departments. In 2020 he relocated to the Netherlands and worked at Action in setting up new finance administration for the IFRS16 regulation. Later moved to Ebitwise to help start-ups and scaleups in developing their finance department and supporting their ambitious growth plans through setting up proper budgeting, financial planning and controlling activities and processes. Joined Bearfield in 2023 to lead the finance department.
Jerome Desmarres
Supervisor Planning
After completing his degree in Languages, Jerome travelled the world for a few years. He landed in Amsterdam in 2014 and acquired experience in Customer Service and Supply Planning in the beverage and paper/packaging industries with Starbucks and DS Smith. He joined BearField in 2020.
Jelena Dzida
Senior Operations Coordinator
Jelena studied at the Haarlem Business School and graduated with a Bachelor degree in International management. She has gained experience in Customer service, while working as a customer account manager at Diageo Brands BV. Jelena has joined Bearfield in April 2015, playing a key role between the customers, transport companies and production facilities.
Karolina Peetoom
Supervisor Operations & Freight
Karolina moved to the Netherlands in 2012 and for the last 7 years, she has been working in the logistics and financial field.
Prior to BearField, she was worked at Action, where she was responsible for the coordination of the internal and external orders, supplier management, invoicing processes within the transport, and analyzing data.
Ilias Askepidis
Demand Planner
After gaining a bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Thessaloniki, Ilias spent 3 years as a Supply Chain Coordinator in a wholesale retail company. Shortly after, he moved to the Netherlands and completed his master’s in Law and Economics at Utrecht University. In the following years, Ilias was gaining hands-on experience in the domain of Compliance and European Tax regulations before joining Bearfield in 2022, as a Demand Planner. “I believe Demand Planning is the core of business operations and I am enjoying being part of it.”
Niels Harte
Planning & Stock management
Niels successfully finished his Business Logistics Studies and fulfilled various positions within supply chain management. He is a diehard who wants to develop his analytical and planning skills.
“There is a lot of energy in this demanding team, which encourages to perform. It is an honor to be part of BearField. After all, it is all about doing what suits you with the right people.”
Shirley Sappé
Operations Coordinator
Shirley studied Fashion Retail. She has worked as a planner and buyer for V&D for 10 years.
Dolores Bajs
Operations Coordinator
After she graduated from college in 2010 with a degree in Market Communication Management, Dolores decided to go abroad.
She studied at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) and fully immersed herself in a new culture and language.
Dolores has a background in different areas such as transport planning, reservation management, office administration, customer service and leading teams.
Maria Dabrowska
Operations Coordinator
Maria studied at the Warsaw School of Economics and moved to the Netherlands shortly after graduating. During her studies, she also spent a year living in Germany and in Austria. Over the last few years, she gained experience in finance departments of various shared service centers, working closely with both internal and external stakeholders.
Michiel Schalkwijk
Operations Coordinator
Michiel has a bachelor degree in history. He then worked 4 years as a sales manager and after 3 years as finance and logistic specialist at a large garden center. Michiel joined BearField as an Operations Coordinator.
Aleksandra Krysiak
Junior Planner
Aleksandra completed her bachelor’s and master’s degree in logistics. Studies allowed her to use theoretical, academic knowledge in international environments. She was working for DSV, Philips and Flexport. She moved from Poland to Amsterdam in 2021. She is highly motivated and well-organized person.
Ratih Nawangwulan
Operations Coordinator
Ratih earned master’s degree in Food Innovation and Management from Wageningen University and worked as Digital Marketing Specialist in Indonesia for a few years. She then returned to the Netherlands and worked for Picnic Technologies as a team leader and editor in an automatic fulfillment center. There she
gained knowledge and interest in food industry’s supply chain. Well-versed in warehouse management, customer service,and internal communications, she’s looking forward to continuing her career in BearField with the goal to improve value chain processes and customer’s satisfaction.
Mihaela Barza
QA & Sales Assistant
After 14 years of customer service at Döhler (first in Romania, then in The Netherlands), Miki joined BearField in 2017, as sales assistant.
If she has to choose a motto which defines her, it would be: Work hard, laugh harder.
Sarah Dyer
Finance Assistant
Sarah gained a Bachelor in Veterinary Technology at Massey University in New Zealand and worked in the Veterinary Industry for several years before deciding to go down a different career path. She completed her Diploma in Business & Accounting in 2021 and worked as an Accounts Administrator for a short time before moving abroad to France. She lived in France for two years and was fortunate to travel a lot of Europe during this time. With a passion to experience more of the world, she moved to Amsterdam in 2023 and is excited to develop her career in finance with BearField.
Mathilde L.
Finance Assistant
BeforeFollowing her studies in agronomy and microbiology, Mathilde made a career shift to finance. She completed her degree, specializing in accounting, at Bordeaux University in 2019. Prior to joining our team, she gained valuable experience at the economic newspaper 'Tout Lyon', where she had the opportunity to interact with various stakeholders in the legal aspects of corporate life. With her strong analytical skills and a natural inclination towards numbers, she eagerly anticipates making a meaningful contribution to our success.
