Alpro is a European company based in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, Belgium, that markets organic and non-organic, non-genetically modified, plant-based products, such as foods and drinks made from soy,

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, oats or

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

. Alpro employs over 1,200 people in Europe and has three production facilities in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Alpro markets its products in Europe and beyond with the majority of its business in Europe.

History

Alpro was founded in 1980, as a subsidiary of the Vandemoortele Groep, which is based in Belgium. Alpro expanded across Europe and in 2000 built a soy milk plant in

Burton Latimer Burton Latimer is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, approximately southeast of Kettering and 4.5 miles north of Wellingborough. At the 2021 census, its population was 10,444. History Burton (Latimer) appears in three entries in the ...

, England. In 2008, Alpro launched the UK's first "reduced calorie soya alternative to yogurt" following the introduction of its Soy Light "reduced calorie soya milk" in 2006. Alpro's revenues are reported to have tripled during the period from 2000 to 2008. In 2009, beverages made up two-thirds of Alpro's revenues. In June 2009, Vandemoortele sold Alpro for an estimated US$455 million to

Dean Foods Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. The company's products included milk, ice cream, dairy products, cheese, juice, and teas. It processed milk in the United States under a numb ...

,Alpro website press communique which marketed the "

Silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

" soy milk brand in the US. In June 2013, WhiteWave, the Dean Foods subsidiary that managed Alpro, was spun-off as an independent company – listing on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. In July 2013, Dean Foods sold their remaining 19.9% stake in WhiteWave, thus ending their involvement with Alpro. In July 2016, it was announced that the French company

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock mark ...

would purchase WhiteWave Foods for $10.4 billion. The acquisition was completed in April 2017 and newly formed company is named "DanoneWave". In 2020, Alpro's ''No Sugars'' oatmilk won the Lausanne Index Prize – Supreme Award, a processed food prize. Alpro's general manager is Sue Garfitt.

Products

Alpro distributes soya based vegan products under the brands ''Belsoy'', ''Alpro Soya'' and ''Provamel''. Products include soya milk,

soy yogurt Soy yogurt, also referred to as soya yogurt, soygurt or yofu (a portmanteau of yogurt and tofu, tofu), is a yogurt-like product made with soy milk. Composition Soy yogurt may have a slight beany soy taste when made directly from freshly prepar ...

, soya cream and soya based desserts, plant-based margarines and plant-based ice cream. All products are made from either non-GM soya,

, oats or

. The Provamel brand is reserved exclusively for organic products (including many organic versions of Alpro Soya products), which are intended for sale only by independent health food retailers. Alpro soya milk scored best (out of 16 tested different plain soy milks), when rated by Germany's leading consumer safety group Stiftung Warentest. Other Alpro products include yogurt as well as "dessert and

meat alternative A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat, mock meat, or alternative protein), is a food product made from Vegetarianism, vegetarian or Veganism, vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives t ...

products".

Marketing activities

To demonstrate Alpro's milk and yogurt alternatives, a year-long experiential marketing campaign gave consumers in the UK the opportunity to sample the breakfast menu products at various events and shopping centres around the country. Alpro also encouraged visitors to have their photo taken at the internet pod on the stand and upload it to

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, thereby joining the Alpro Soya Facebook page.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpro Food and drink companies of Belgium Vegetarian companies and establishments Soy product brands Non-dairy yogurts Food and drink companies established in 1980 Belgian companies established in 1980 Groupe Danone brands Plant-based diets Companies based in Ghent

History

Products

Marketing activities

See also

References

External links