| Type | Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1879 |
| Headquarters | Meppel, Netherlands |
| Industry | Food and Dairy |
| Revenue | €5.075 billion (2007) |
| Employees | 14,582 |
| Website | frieslandfoods.com |
Royal Friesland Foods (Koninklijke Friesland Foods N.V.) is a Netherlands-based multinational cooperative that develops, produces and sells branded dairy products and fruit-based drinks. Royal Friesland Foods has a strong presence in Western Europe, Central Europe, West Africa and Southeast Asia.
In 2008, Friesland Foods merged with Campina, under the new name of FrieslandCampina. The process was announced on December 2007. The EU conditioned the merger to the sale of certain cheese and dairy drink divisions by both companies.[1]
Royal Friesland Foods employs 15,312, of whom 10,000 work outside the Netherlands. The cooperative's leading brands are Appelsientje, Bonnet, Chocomel/Cécémel, Completa, CoolBest, Debic, DubbelFrisss, Dutch Lady, Extran, Frico, Friso, Foremost, Friesche Vlag, Frisian Flag, Fristi, Milli, NoyNoy, Peak, Pöttyös Túró Rudi, Rainbow, and Taksi.
Royal Friesland Foods is organized as a cooperative, with roots going back to 1879. It has grown through mergers and takeovers, the most significant of which occurred in late 1997, when four Dutch dairy cooperatives joined to create the business in its current form.
In December 2001, KFF NV acquired the Drinks & Diary division of Numico including the brands Chocomel/Cécémel, Fristi and Extran.
Royal Friesland Foods gained its current name in June 2004 after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands granted it the Royal status ("Koninklijk" in Dutch) in honour of its 125th anniversary. Prior to that, the company was known as Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods.
In September 2008, the testing of Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) found that the "Dutch Lady" brand of strawberry flavoured milk manufactured in China to be contaminated with melamine. This product was recalled and destroyed.[1] Friesland Foods recalled all of its plastic-bottled milk in Hong Kong and Macau.[2]