Less sugar, a stronger portfolio in Europe

Reducing added sugar is one of the ways FrieslandCampina helps make healthier diets more accessible and improves the nutritional quality of its portfolio. Since 2016, we have reduced the sales weighted average of added sugar in our key sweetened portfolio in Europe by 26 percent. This progress builds on our long-term efforts to improve the nutritional value of our products, while maintaining the taste and quality consumers expect.

"Reducing added sugar is a tangible way we bring our purpose, nourishing by nature, to life."
^{– Kun Liu, Manager Development R&D, FrieslandCampina Europe and Retail & Americas}

Supporting more balanced diets

Rising rates of overweight and obesity are a global challenge, with excessive sugar intake recognised as an important contributing factor. Reducing added sugar is therefore not just a product improvement, but a key lever in supporting healthier dietary patterns and contributing to global public health goals. For consumers, it makes healthier choices more accessible in everyday life. For customers and partners, it ensures our products meet growing expectations regarding health and nutrition.

"By offering lower-sugar and no-added-sugar options, we help consumers make better choices in everyday life."
^{– Kun Liu, Manager Development R&D, FrieslandCampina Europe and Retail & Americas}

Impact at scale

The reduction spans across business groups Europe and Retail & Americas, particularly in high-volume sweetened categories. These categories represent around 78 percent of the total sweetened portfolio by sales volume, meaning that even small product-level improvements can deliver significant impact at scale.

Sugar reduction without compromising taste

This progress is supported by continuous innovation, including improvements in recipes, ingredient selection and production processes to maintain taste and quality. It has been driven by a combination of reformulation and portfolio innovation. Since 2016, we have gradually reduced sugar levels in existing products, while expanding our range of no-added-sugar options such as Chocomel 0%, Fristi 0%, and the Optimel range.

Part of our nutrition approach

As an international dairy company, we recognise our responsibility to contribute to balanced and nutritious diets by improving the nutritional quality of our portfolio and supporting consumers in making better everyday choices. To do this consistently across all markets, we apply the FrieslandCampina Nutrition Standards (FCNS). These science-based criteria set clear thresholds for both nutrients to encourage, such as protein and calcium, and nutrients to limit, including added sugar.

Reducing added sugar is therefore a key part of our broader efforts to improve the nutritional profile of our products and support healthier diets worldwide. In 2025, 81 percent of our global consumer product volumes met the FCNS thresholds for added sugar. Europe plays a leading role in this progress, with significant reductions already achieved across our portfolio.

Balancing taste and nutrition

Reducing sugar is not only a technical challenge; it is also about meeting consumer expectations. Maintaining the right balance between nutrition and enjoyment is essential. We therefore take a gradual, consumer-led approach. Reformulations are introduced step by step and tested with consumers to ensure they continue to meet expectations.

"Quality and consumer acceptance are central at every step. We continuously validate our reformulations to make sure we deliver the right result."
^{– Kun Liu, Manager Development R&D, FrieslandCampina Europe and Retail & Americas}

This approach allows us to improve nutritional value while maintaining the qualities consumers value most.

Continuing to reduce sugar

While significant progress has been made, there is still more to do. In Europe, added sugar levels across much of our portfolio are already relatively low, making further reductions increasingly complex and dependent on continued innovation and new technologies.

Opportunities for impact differ across markets and product categories. Going forward, we focus on areas where we can make the greatest difference, supporting healthier diets at scale. Technological expertise and insights developed in Europe are already being applied more broadly, including in Asia, to accelerate sugar reduction across our global portfolio.

Reducing sugar is not a one-time effort, but an ongoing commitment that requires continuous adaptation and innovation. We remain focused on maximising our nutrition impact by improving the availability and accessibility of high-quality, nutritious dairy products, now and for generations to come.