Valio Sells Belgian Subsidiary to Current Management

Valio Vache Bleue packages for consumers both Emmental cheese produced by Valio and cheeses produced by other players. The company packs 12 million kilos of cheese annually and posted a net turnover of 56 million euros in 2011.

9 Jul 2012 --- Valio Ltd is selling its Belgian subsidiary Valio Vache Bleue to the company’s current CEO David Parent and former CEO Frédérique (Free) Vroome. This cheese packaging, sales and distribution operation in Belgium has been owned by Valio since 1996.

Valio Vache Bleue packages for consumers both Emmental cheese produced by Valio and cheeses produced by other players. The company packs 12 million kilos of cheese annually and posted a net turnover of 56 million euros in 2011.

“Instead of Emmental, we have in the last few years been focusing on other cheeses and brands. In particular, the market for cheese in Russia and the CIS countries is growing, and Valio Oltermanni and Valio Viola brand products are well known and in great demand there,” says Executive Vice President Arto Tikkanen of Valio’s Cheese, Butter and Ingredients division.

“We believe in Vache Bleue’s ability to offer a variety of cheeses preferred by Belgium’s consumers. We’ll be developing Vache Bleue and its well known brands Belleligne, Selection Cuisine and Selection Traiteur to serve customers and consumers alike,” say new owners David Parent and Frédérique Vroome.

The new company will retain all of Valio Vache Bleue’s 137 personnel and the transaction will not impact staff numbers in Finland, either.

Valio continues to export Emmental to the USA.

Valio is the biggest seller of export Emmental on the East Coast of America, in the New York region. Valio’s Finnish Emmental sold under the Finlandia brand is deservedly famous for its great taste, and exports will continue.