Vitafoods Europe 2026: How Valio’s dairy proteins are shaping health, recovery and gut-friendly innovation
21 May 2026 | Valio
At Vitafoods Europe 2026, Dennis van der Veer, head of customer development at Valio, shares how the company’s dairy proteins support active, aging, and health-conscious consumers — delivering balanced nutrition, gut-friendly, low-sugar options, and multifunctional benefits for tomorrow’s mainstream F&B products.
Blueprints first reporting from Pfizer Foods Europe 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.
I'm in the Valio booth with Dennis van de Veer, who's head of customer development.
Welcome to you, Dennis.
So Valio is highlighting dairy proteins for future-proof nutrition.
How do you see these proteins meeting the everyday needs of today's consumers, especially those focused on active lifestyles and aging?
Yeah, I think it is in essence, it comes down indeed to the consumer's preferences.
Taste, I think dairy is the biggest key.
If you think what consumers are doing, where they are going, and what activities they are doing, it doesn't matter if it doesn't taste good.
So in essence it comes down to the taste, and milk protein is excellent for that.
OK, so as you know, consumers want more than just muscle support from their protein products.
So how is Val using dairy proteins to create products that offer multiple health benefits like recovery and satiety in one serving?
Yeah, it comes down to the same thing basically.
Taste is very key of that.
If it tastes , you are happy to eat it, and of course it has a lot of proteins in it.
There's a good amount of carbohydrates and milk proteins, so it's a really good balance towards different applications that you can use there.
Yeah, so it's very good, yeah.
Yeah, OK, so milk protein is getting more attention for its balanced amino acid profile.
How does this make milk protein?
Choice of mainstream F&B products like for example recovery drinks.
Milk protein is one of the best proteins you can get if you compare it to pea protein or meat or any other protein types that are very popular at the moment.
Milk is by far the better ones and indeed what you said, it is full of all the nine amino acids and the way and casein balance optimizes the absorption of protein.
So this protein synthesis.
So that makes it a very suitable product for indeed recovery drinks.
And also, if you think about the recovery drinks, if you talk about recovery drinks, consumers directly or producers think directly about sports, but it's not only that, it goes deeper for the consumers as.
Coming back from a hard day at work, mums picking up the kids, or dads picking up the kids, just exhausted of the day is also recovery.
And that belongs a little bit more to the masses because recovery goes usually towards sports and active nutrition.
OK, so in addition to protein, gut health is also a growing trend.
So how is Valio's lactose-free, high protein milk helping brands meet demand for both gut health and high protein, as as low sugar options?
Yeah, we, we support, especially dairy producers with producing lactose-free milk, as I said earlier, taste is.
You can produce lactose-free milk of high protein with hydrosis.
However, the taste profile is very sweet of that, so we help our customers with ingredients that they can produce a high protein, lactose-free milk which has lower carbohydrates, which is suitable for the whole family, and that supports also they also kids need also protein to grow, but maybe not as much as adults that are active.
OK, so as consumers look for foods that support both health and lifestyle, how do you see dairy ingredients evolving in mainstream products over the next few years?
I do believe that the dairy ingredients continues to grow.
However, we are seeing of course, a very big boom at the moment, and I think the key is indeed to see the multiple benefits that protein will bring.
So customers are looking for multiple angles at the same time there, and I think dairy will belong in that category because it can also play a strong role in gut health.
Yes, Dennis, thanks for your time today.
Thank you.
