Increasing the accessibility of our products

Bel has made product accessibility one of its strategic priorities, with the goal of offering quality products adapted to the greatest number of people, everywhere in the world. In a context of economic inflation, product accessibility is a major challenge, and Bel is working to limit the impact on consumers’ purchasing power. Similarly, Bel seeks to protect itself against the risk of losing market share by adapting to people’s budgets and needs. It’s not just a question of price, but also being accessible to consumers in the right markets and in the right distribution channels, to suit their lifestyles and eating habits.

Bel’s ambition is to give 600 million consumers access to healthier, more sustainable products by 2035. This commitment can be achieved in two main ways:

> adapting products to the needs and means of all, through affordability, sustainable portion sizes and by developing products that meet nutritional needs and tastes

> geographical accessibility and availability of Bel products via several innovative and/or solidarity-based distribution channels.

• Giving everyone access to Group products

Since its creation, portioning has been at the heart of Bel’s business model, contributing to the accessibility of its products. The Group is committed to a healthier, more sustainable diet for all, and each of its portioned products enables as many people as possible to enjoy healthy, balanced snacks, offered in an affordable, practical, easy-to-transport format, and consumed in the right amount.

 

• Developing a range of plant-based products

The Group is committed to offering products and recipes to suit everyone’s tastes and needs, not only in its traditional dairy segment, but also in the fruit and vegetable segments by developing plant-based recipes for its core brands such as Babybel® Plant-Based, and by launching Nurishh®, its first 100% plant-based brand in 2021.

At the same time, the Group is working with start-ups that are developing cutting-edge technologies to create proteins of high nutritional quality, without animal origin. In 2023, for example, the Group launched “Nurishh® Incredible Dairy”, an alternative to cheeses containing dairy proteins that are created via precision fermentation.

 

• Developing a range of products tailored to everyone’s nutritional needs

Accessibility also means adapting Bel products to the nutritional needs of as many people as possible. Bel continues to adapt its products in collaboration with external nutrition experts by defining precise nutritional specifications. For these products, priority is given to fortification with vitamins and minerals, in order to help provide better coverage of the nutritional requirements of populations in different geographical areas, and to adapt the composition of recipes to guarantee optimal quality and safety.

 

• Adapting to new geographies and consumption patterns

To make its products even more accessible, the Group strives to adapt to consumer trends and to be as close as possible to the consumer. The Group intends to focus on new geographies. The acquisition of Shandong JunJun Cheese® in China and the joint venture with Britannia® in India in 2022 will help us accelerate towards this ambition. In 2023, Bel launched a Laughing Cow® product in India, co-branded with Britannia®, confirming the Group’s strategy in this geography.

Improving product accessibility also means adapting to all modes of consumption, and therefore changing distribution models to ensure we are present in the right channels, notably by developing e-commerce and out-of-home distribution channels in all the Group’s geographical zones.

 

• Development of inclusive distribution models

In order to adapt to the reality of consumption and supply patterns, and offer healthy food to a wider section of the population, Bel has for several years relied on inclusive distribution channels, and works to strengthen the quality of relationships with its partners by offering them three types of services: professional training, health insurance and financial inclusion. Bel has developed two innovative and inclusive distribution models: Sharing Cities and Inaya. Priority geographical areas are Madagascar, Vietnam, Morocco, India and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The aim is to have 40,000 participants in an Inclusive Business program by 2030.

 

Sharing Cities, a program for street vendors

Since 2013, Bel has launched Sharing Cities, a program that aims to complement traditional marketing channels with alternative distribution networks rooted in local purchasing practices, while improving the quality of life of the vendors involved in this project. The Group relies on existing networks of street vendors to market its products and broaden its consumer base. In exchange, the Group supports these salespeople in developing and sustaining their business and sales, and offers them access to health insurance and professional training.

Since 2019, Bel has developed a second inclusive business model called Inaya. This is a loyalty program for retailers who are already Bel customers, giving them access to services that improve their living or working conditions, and are adapted to local contexts.