The Bel group, owner of La Vache qui rit, Mini Babybel, Kiri and Boursin cheeses, has launched a testing phase on its products. Changes are expected between 2026 and 2027.
New products are arriving in the cheese section of supermarkets, particularly among Bel group references. With its 418 million consumers, the brand has considerable influence on the food industry. And she would also be “responsible”. In any case, this is what a Point ranking, carried out in 2023 with the Statista institute, put forward, and which placed Bel in seventh place in this area, among French companies. And the cheese factory doesn’t intend to stop there.
The group announced at the end of November the launch of a Kiri cheese packaged in recyclable paper. Goodbye to traditional aluminum, polluting and toxic, the company is going green. A test phase will be launched in the first half of 2025 with Kiri consumers, with the aim of achieving national distribution by 2026 or 2027. On RMC Conso, the group explains that it has thought about this packaging for a long time. For now, a milky color is being considered to represent “the whiteness and natural appearance” of the cheese.
The small Kiri square was chosen as a priority because of its characteristic shape, easier to wrap than the Laughing Cow triangle, for example. “Switching to recyclable paper packaging represents a significant investment, particularly in research and development, as well as in the adaptation of our production lines,” assures Delphine Chatelin in Le Figaro. Millions of euros have already been spent by Bel to promote the development of new machines, an R&D strategy and adapted folding techniques.
This innovation is actually the first in a long series. Ultimately, the group hopes to generalize this new form to all of the brand’s products, with La Vache qui rit and Boursin among the next repackaged cheeses: “We know that our consumers are looking for quality products that also respect the environment Switching to recyclable, 100% biosourced paper packaging is an essential step in reducing our carbon footprint,” said Delphine Chatelin, vice-president of the Bel group’s research and development division. At Figaro.
To green its products, the dairy products heavyweight is in fact ready to invest 7.5 million over three years. In line with the plant-based recipes already launched by the brand, such as Boursin with sunflower oil or plant-based Babybel, the company anticipates plant-based alternatives to its cheeses, as well as a reduction in additives and fats. . All with an emphasis on the development of sustainable packaging.
“The dream is zero plastic, zero aluminum on our packaging,” said Cécile Béliot, general director of Bel, to New Factory. But consumers can rest assured, this move to “recyclable and recycled” paper will not change anything in the price and taste of the products.