Mini Babybel is a brand of small snack

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

products that are individually packaged and available in various flavors. It is a product of , a company with roots in the Jura region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, started by

Jules Bel Jules Bel (30 September 1842 – 11 January 1904) was a French cheese maker. He was the founder of Groupe Bel The Bel Group ( Groupe Bel or Fromageries Bel in French) is a multinational cheese marketer centered in France. Overview The Bel Gro ...

in 1865. Half of the global production of Mini Babybel is made in

Évron Évron () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, the former communes Châtres-la-Forêt and Saint-Christophe-du-Luat were merged into Évron. Évron (pop. 8,700) is noted for the Basilica of Notre-D ...

, a commune in the northwest of France. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, ''Le Groupe Bel'' produces the Mini Babybel cheeses in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In March 2016, Bel Brands USA opened a new plant in

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in and the county seat of Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 23,377 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in South Dakota, fo ...

. (The plant and Original Babybel production was shown in a segment of the documentary series Food Factory USA). At the time, Bel Brands projected that its 250 employees would produce 1.5 million Mini Babybel cheese wheels per day. In July 2018, announced that the company had 12,700 employees in 30 subsidiaries around the world and that their first Canadian production facility would be in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Products

The "Original", most popular, Mini Babybel is an Edam-style cheese made from

pasteurised milk In food processing, pasteurization (also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. ...

, vegetarian rennet, lactic ferments, and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. It is made using traditional Edam-making processes, except that rennet from vegetarian – rather than animal – sources is used. It is also naturally lactose-free. Mini Babybel is known for its packaging, consisting of a netted bag in which each piece of cheese is encased in a blend of colored

paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid (also in liquid form) that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for med ...

and

microcrystalline A microcrystalline material is a crystallized substance or rock that contains small crystals visible only through microscopic examination. There is little agreement on the range of crystal sizes that should be regarded as microcrystalline, but ...

wax, inside of a cellophane wrapper made of wood pulp, cotton, or "other vegetation." Mmbover cheesedisk

Flavors (with corresponding wrapping colors)

Babybel products

* Mini Babybel ** Mini Babybel (AT, AU, BE, CA, CZ, DE, ES, EE, FI, FR, GR, IE, IT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, SK, UK, US) ** Mini Roulés/Enrollados/Mini Rolls – Edam only (CA, CH, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL) ** Babybel Plus+ Probiotic (AU) ** Cheese & Crackers – Edam, Edam Light, and White Cheddar (Discontinued) * Babybel Maxi – Edam only (BE, FR, DE, NL) * Babybel Tranches/Scheiben – Edam only (BE, CH, DE, FR) * Babybel Light Cheese Apple & Grapes – Light Edam only (UK)

Advertising

An advertising

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

associated with the product plays on the lyrics of the song "

Barbara Ann "Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached No.13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. A more well-known version of the song was recor ...

" by The Regents. Use of said jingle started in

in the end of the 1970s, and then emerged to other parts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and French-Canada by the start of the 1990s. They tout the product as an "always on the go and ready for anything" snack cheese. The advertising for Babybel in the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s had the slogan "Too tasty to share". As of 2012, a recording of the song "Get in Line" by I'm from Barcelona has been used in their adverts, where the band rerecorded the song with a children's choir. In August 2012, there was controversy over its promotional use of the French slogan "Des vacances de malade mental" ("having a mental holiday", or literally "holidaying like a mentally ill person") which was deemed offensive to people with learning difficulties or mental illnesses.

References

External links

{{Commons category, * Babybel websites
FranceUnited KingdomNetherlandsCanadaUnited States

Groupe Bel official website
French cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Products introduced in 1952 Brand name dairy products