Lons-le-Saunier, October 6^th, 2026

• Bel is taking another step in its digital transformation with the unveiling of a research project to create the first digital twin of a cheese, developed for The Laughing Cow® in partnership with Dassault Systèmes.
• The technology will make it possible to create a virtual model of cheese and explore an unlimited range of recipe combinations before testing them in the physical world, helping accelerate innovation cycles and optimize formulations.
• This world first for the food industry is being unveiled in Lons-le-Saunier, an iconic site that embodies Bel Group’s ability to bring together deep local roots and international reach, heritage and modernity, artisanal expertise and technological excellence.

To mark the 100th anniversary of its historic Lons-le-Saunier plant, Bel is taking another step in its digital transformation with the unveiling of a research project to create the first digital twin of a cheese, developed for The Laughing Cow® in partnership with Dassault Systèmes. A world first for the food industry, the project reflects the Group’s ambition to bring together a century of industrial expertise, the power of data and digital technologies to accelerate innovation and develop a new generation of products that meet consumer expectations and address the food challenges of tomorrow.

A digital twin to accelerate food innovation
This powerful “digital simulator” brings together multiple dimensions of a product in one virtual environment—including ingredients, formulation, physicochemical properties, sensory perception and consumer preferences. Bel’s teams can use it to simulate thousands of recipe combinations, then focus physical pilot-scale trials on the most promising options. The digital twin is designed to shorten development cycles, refine formulations and continuously improve products’ nutritional profiles, sensory experiences and environmental footprints.

Traditionally, food product development has relied on a series of trial-and-error experiments, with recipes and manufacturing conditions varied and then assessed through analysis and tasting. The digital twin will complement Bel’s expertise with a new simulation environment, allowing teams to explore a wide range of possibilities virtually before selecting the most promising ones for physical trials.

Developed by Bel’s Research, Innovation and Development teams, the technology is expected to be deployed at industrial scale by 2028. Work with external partners has already brought predictive microbiology solutions and formulation support tools into use in new product development.

This innovation is part of the Group’s broader digital and technological transformation and its ambition to progressively integrate data and artificial intelligence across its value chain, from research and development through to production. It is grounded in a clear belief: these technologies should enhance human expertise, not replace it, by giving teams new tools to imagine, develop and produce the food of tomorrow.

The project builds on the strategic partnership established with Dassault Systèmes in 2024. Its 3D modeling and digital twin technologies, already used in aerospace, automotive and life sciences, are now being applied to food innovation.

Lons-le-Saunier: an iconic Bel site built on responsibility, innovation and international reach
The unveiling of this world first coincides with the 100th anniversary of Bel’s Lons-le-Saunier plant, the Group’s historic industrial birthplace and a flagship production site for La Vache qui rit®.

Opened in 1926 to support the growth of portioned processed cheese, the site has spent a century bringing together the dairy expertise of France’s Jura region with Bel’s industrial culture and spirit of innovation. It was in Lons-le-Saunier that the Group developed unique expertise in processed cheese and portioning, helping La Vache qui rit® grow into an international brand. The plant is firmly connected to global markets, with two-thirds of its production exported to 60 countries.

Today, the site is home to the Group’s global center of expertise and innovation in cheese and continues to modernize. The research project to develop the first digital twin of a cheese builds on a century of innovation. After developing the technologies needed to produce portions at scale, Bel’s teams are now harnessing data, modeling and artificial intelligence to accelerate innovation and imagine the food of tomorrow.

The site is also benefiting from a €10 million, three-year modernization plan to strengthen its industrial and environmental performance. In line with the Group’s 1.5°C climate pathway, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the plant is reducing its environmental footprint and water use. Water consumption is down 15% over the past five years, saving 11,000 cubic meters each year, the equivalent of three Olympic-size swimming pools. A new wastewater treatment plant, commissioned in 2025, is contributing to this progress. A pellet-fired biomass boiler, developed with partner BKtech, is also starting up and will mark another milestone in reducing the site’s carbon emissions.

Antoine Fiévet, Chairman of Bel Group, stated: “At Bel, we have the privilege of taking the long view. Representing the fifth generation of a family committed to a company approaching its second century makes that a responsibility as well. This long-term perspective is at the heart of our history. It reminds us that a family shareholder never owns the future; they are its custodian. No place tells this story better than Lons-le-Saunier. For 100 years, generations of people here have carried forward expertise born in the Jura, where the cheese-making industry met a distinctive culture of precision, engineering and innovation. The responsibility of a family shareholder is rooted in this reality: making decisions today that will allow this shared journey to continue tomorrow and for generations to come.”

Cécile Béliot, Chief Executive Officer of Bel Group, stated: “100 years is a remarkable milestone for a plant. When I look at Lons-le-Saunier, what strikes me most is not simply that it has been here for a century. It’s that it has never stopped evolving. The factory’s history is proof: its buildings, processes and technologies have all changed. Above all, generations of women and men have learned new skills, passed on their expertise and found new ways to make our products. The digital twin now being tested in Lons reflects that same spirit. As it did 100 years ago, the factory is once again a place to explore what Bel can become tomorrow. Our history does not give us the answers to the challenges ahead. It gives us the confidence to shape the future, alongside the 370 people who work at our Lons-le-Saunier site.”





About Bel Group
Bel Group is a major player in the cheese, fruit, and plant-based portions segment, with a mission to provide healthier and more sustainable food for all. Its portfolio of differentiated, internationally recognized brands includes The Laughing Cow®, Kiri®, Babybel®, Boursin®, Pom'Potes® and GoGo squeeZ®, as well as around twenty local brands.
Together, these brands enabled the Group to generate sales of €3.83 billion in 2025. Around 11,000 employees across 60 subsidiaries worldwide contribute to the Group's mission. Bel products are manufactured at 29 production sites and distributed in more than 120 countries.

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