IN Brief:
- Bel North America is targeting stronger US growth across Babybel, Boursin, The Laughing Cow, and GoGo squeeZ.
- The company sees headroom in foodservice, out-of-home, and new eating occasions.
- Recent Babybel growth has been supported by major investment in Brookings, South Dakota.
Bel Group is sharpening its US growth strategy under North America chief executive Peter McGuinness, with distribution, foodservice, product innovation, and packaging formats central to the next phase.
The company’s US platform includes Babybel, Boursin, The Laughing Cow, Kiri, and GoGo squeeZ, giving it a portfolio across dairy, fruit-based, and snack formats. North America is already a major sales region for the group, with the US representing its largest market by sales and about a third of group turnover.
Bel North America recorded organic sales growth of 4.9% in the past year. Babybel and Boursin have both delivered double-digit growth, supporting the company’s decision to invest heavily in Babybel production capacity at Brookings, South Dakota.
The company’s next growth phase will focus on broader distribution and a stronger out-of-home strategy. That includes foodservice, travel, hospitality, and other occasions where individually portioned products can compete as convenient protein, dairy, or snack options.
Product development will also play a central role. Bel is looking at line extensions, flavour development, multipacks, price-pack architecture, and packaging formats across its core brands. The company also sees potential to expand dayparts and stretch some brands into new usage occasions.
Individually portioned dairy and snack products require close control of filling, forming, wrapping, chilling, shelf life, and pack integrity. The appeal of products such as Babybel and The Laughing Cow is strongly tied to portion control and packaging experience, making manufacturing and packaging performance part of the brand proposition.
Growth in dairy processing is increasingly being driven by snacking, convenience, and functional occasions rather than traditional dairy consumption alone. Cheese is competing with bars, meat snacks, chilled protein products, fruit pouches, and better-for-you confectionery.
Bel’s portfolio is positioned around that shift. Babybel’s wax-wrapped format, Boursin’s premium spread positioning, and The Laughing Cow’s portioned wedges all give the company manufacturing and packaging assets that support differentiated use cases.
The expansion strategy will place pressure on supply-chain discipline. Wider distribution across retail, foodservice, and travel requires production capacity, chilled logistics, packaging material availability, and accurate forecasting. Foodservice growth can also create different pack-size and handling requirements from grocery retail.
The Brookings investment provides the industrial base for that plan. Greater Babybel capacity supports a strategy built on making portioned dairy products available in more locations, at more times of day, and in more pack formats.
Bel’s US push shows how format, occasion, and packaging are shaping dairy growth. The processing base still has to deliver volume and consistency, but competitive advantage increasingly sits in how products are portioned, packed, distributed, and adapted to eating moments beyond the traditional dairy fixture.
