Bel to invest in The Laughing Cow production in Spain

Bel Group is expanding the accumulation of food marque The Laughing Cow successful Spain.

The French group's works successful Ulzama successful bluish Spain is getting €1.5m ($1.7m) to adhd a 600m² gathering with 2 packaging lines for its scope of The Laughing Cow cheese.

Bel said the determination would boost yearly output by 15%, lifting capableness to astir 7,000 tonnes of The Laughing Cow – equivalent to astir 500 cardinal portions.

Construction has begun, with the caller lines owed to commencement operations successful the archetypal fractional of 2026.

Opened successful 1968, the Ulzama works produces The Laughing Cow food portions for customers successful Spain and Portugal.

The facility, on with Bel’s Madrid office, unneurotic employment astir 140 people.

The company, meanwhile, has started the usage of a biomass boiler astatine the Ulzama site.

Bel said the 700-kW portion replaces each fossil fuels for steam accumulation and cuts CO₂ emissions by 500 tonnes a year.

Bel called the determination an “important milestone” successful its decarbonisation strategy.

Stéphane Dupays, Bel's main operations officer, said: “These 2 projects exemplify Bel’s two-leg model, wherever sustainability and profitability beforehand together. The Ulzama tract is present powered by renewable vigor and is expanding to enactment aboriginal growth.”

Bel is champion known for brands similar The Laughing Cow, Babybel, Boursin and Kiri.

It besides produces fruit-based products done brands similar Pom'Potes and GoGo squeeZ.

Earlier this month, Bel acceptable a people of each its Babybel products being packed successful recyclable insubstantial packaging by 2027.

In August, Bel acquired a 22.5% involvement successful Indonesian food shaper Mulia Boga Raya (MBR), a subsidiary of section radical Garudafood, which retained bulk ownership.

The partners purpose to turn food depletion successful Indonesia and make “tailored innovations”.

In the archetypal fractional of 2025, Bel Group reported a autumn successful net contempt seeing its income emergence arsenic costs ate into its profitability.

The institution saw its stock of consolidated nett net driblet by 5.4% connected a reported ground to €45.8m.

Its recurring operating income was €125m successful the archetypal half, down 19.3% connected the anterior year.

However, consolidated nett income reached €1.86bn, marking a 3.2% integrated increase, and 2% connected a reported basis.

Bel said the maturation was “driven by higher volumes and terms increases” that offset “persistent ostentation successful earthy materials successful respective markets”.

Volumes were impacted by geopolitical tensions successful the Middle East and accrued user sensitivity to terms pressures, the radical added.

Its “core brands” enactment successful a “robust performance”, Bel said. Kiri saw first-half income emergence 8.2%, Mini Babybel by 6.1% and Boursin by 7.3%.