Our Leadership Team

Ivan Giraud joined Bel Brands USA as Chief Executive Officer in January 2022. Ivan is also  the General Manager of Materne USA and has acted in this role since 2018. He will remain in this position at Materne with the additional duties as US business lead for Bel USA.

Ivan joined Materne USA in 2017 leading Category and Revenue Development before being promoted to General Manager in June 2018. He also has previous career experience with Nestle, Heinz and JDE coffee. Ivan has over 28 years of experience in food companies.

From a leadership perspective, Ivan’s values are rooted in continually learning and growing, remaining humble through hard work and staying optimistic. Ivan is a husband and proud father of three boys and his hobbies include cooking and running.

Carolina Cespedes Virguez is General Manager of GoGo squeeZ U.S. at Bel Group and a member of the Supervisory Board of the Thom Group. She brings over 25 years of leadership experience in general management, marketing, and sales across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. 

She previously served as General Manager of Fresh Beauty at LVMH in North America, where she led a transformation of the business strategy, organization, and commercial approach. Prior to that, Carolina spent eight years at Danone, including as CMO of the Waters division in North America, where she repositioned Evian and launched its first innovation. During her time at Danone, she also brought Activia—its largest brand—back to growth in the U.S. Earlier in her career, she spent 14 years at Procter & Gamble in sales and marketing roles across Colombia, the U.S., and Belgium. 

Originally from Colombia, Carolina holds an MBA from Saint Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in Finance and International Relations from Universidad Externado. She is fluent in Spanish, French, and English, and has lived and worked in Colombia, Belgium, and the U.S. 

She lives in Westchester, NY with her family and is passionate about health, wellness, and mentoring young professional women. 

In 2014, Negar joined Bel as Marketing Director for Iran and Turkey. By July 2018, she was General Manager of Bel Iran, leading an organization of 500 members and achieving 60% business growth and profitability. In 2022, she became General Manager of The Laughing Cow globally, a $600M business in 136 countries. By June 2023, she was appointed General Manager of Bel Brands USA, managing a $500M business focused on championing healthier and sustainable food. 

Decorated as an “Officer” in the French National Order of Merit, Negar has served as a Foreign Trade Advisor to the French Government and has been on the board of the Bel Foundation since 2022. She is passionate about purposeful business leadership, integrative thinking, change management, and innovation. 

Carole Larson is the Chief Financial Officer of GoGo squeeZ U.S. at Bel Group. She played a crucial role in tripling the company’s sales over the past 8 years, extending her expertise to supply chain, purchasing, and IT. 

At BEL Group, she has led financial teams across the US and the French markets, with a focus in strategic planning and taking calculated risks to support the growth of the business. Prior to that, Carole previously served at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company for 5 years where she held various senior finance positions for local businesses (France, Western Europe) and for corporate (International Business Unit) and developed her passion for CPG environments.  

She started her career as an external financial auditor for Deloitte and then moved to the agrochemical division of BASF, where she excelled in FP&A and industrial controlling before being promoted to her first CFO role. 

Fluent in English and French, with intermediate Spanish skills, Carole holds an MBA from EM Lyon Business School, with major in Finance, and a French CPA certification. 

She’s lives in NYC for more than 8 years with her husband and some of their kids, and is passionate about traveling, learning and discovering new cultures. 

Jaime Lewis serves as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Bel Brands USA (BBUSA). In this role, she provides leadership, guidance and overall management of the Finance and Accounting departments. With over 20 years of experience, Jaime is an industry leader, with ongoing success delivering revenue, profit and market share objectives, while maintaining sound financial controls and business processes. She builds strong cross functional partnerships across organizations and works to advance a strategic financial agenda, while maintaining a flexible and collaborative approach. She has broad finance expertise across financial planning, revenue and cost management in large corporate and private equity environments.

Prior to joining BBUSA, she served as the senior vice president of finance at ATI Physical Therapy and served as a financial leader at PepsiCo. Jaime holds degrees in Accounting and Finance from DePaul University. In her spare time, Jaime enjoys being active outdoors, cooking, traveling and spending time with her husband and three kids.

Marc has a talent for growing things, from the 120 fruit and nut trees on family lands in northern France to brand adoption and loyalty through our landmark subsidiaries. Since joining Bel Brands in 1990, this globetrotting food scientist, product innovator and operations manager has expanded our footprint into places like Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, Morocco, Algiers, Czech Republic, Ivory Coast and Ukraine, managing plants and building production facilities from the ground up. He joined Bel Brands USA in July 2022, accepting dual responsibility over dairy and fruit for Bel/Materne, managing six plants in the U.S. and Canada. 

Marc says he fell in love with cheese during a brief stint with Danone while attending the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. After earning a master’s degree in food engineering sciences and executive management, he spent the first seven years at Bel as a development manager in charge of process improvement and product development. Marc has led product innovations such as super thin slices of hard cheese and blending cheeses with fruit flavors. In operations, he has excelled at a range of capabilities, including LEAN manufacturing implementation, industrial P&L, production management and quality control, and successfully redesigned plant operations to meet international standards. He grew Bel’s subsidiary in Egypt into the biggest exporter of cheese by a single player. “I’m proud to bring dairy skills and new technologies to countries where they did not exist.” 

With nearly 20 years of human resources experience, Anne-Laure Serrano has led organizational and cultural transformations that drove exceptional growth and business results. Her initiatives have built high-performing teams, earning Great Place to Work and B-Corp certifications. 

Anne-Laure champions trust-based leadership rooted in the Trust Equation, emphasizing credibility, reliability, intimacy, and minimizing self-interest. Authenticity, transparency, and integrity define her leadership style. 

Her high positive energy is her superpower, driving performance and transformation in dynamic environments, and agility is key in her approach. Anne-Laure creates environments where individuals and teams feel belonging and are empowered to reach their fullest potential. 

She holds a master’s degree in business administration and human resources from Burgundy School of Business. 

Paloma Lopez joined Bel in March 2024 as the Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer for Bel US, where she leads the Impact, Trust, and Ethics team, encompassing Sustainability, Communications, Legal, and Regulatory functions. She drives Bel’s US Mission of Purpose*Full Snacking, aiming to improve the diets of Americans lacking essential fruit, veggies, and dairy. 

With over 20 years of global experience in the food and CPG industry, Paloma has led initiatives and strategies that create economic, social, and environmental value at Fortune 500 companies and startups. She has successfully launched purpose-led brands and designed global sustainability programs. 

Recognized as a Global Sustainability Women Leader by Forbes, Paloma is a First Movers Fellow at Aspen Institute and serves on their External Advisory Board. She has been involved with various organizations promoting sustainable food systems, including Naturally Colorado, Unreasonable Group, University of Cambridge, and USC. Paloma holds M.S. degrees in Sustainability Leadership and International Business.