Food and Drink Industry 30 Mar – 5 Apr: Ft Danone, Huel, Pilgrim’s Europe and Fever-Tree
- Danone has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Huel, expanding its position in functional and complete nutrition.
- Pilgrim’s Europe has opened a new Pork Centre of Excellence at Bromborough, backed by a £350,000 investment to strengthen innovation and product development.
- Fever-Tree has reported mixed performance, with global growth and diversification beyond tonic, but pressure in the UK from EPR costs, on-trade weakness and disruption tied to its US partnership with Molson Coors.
A Food Industry in Transition
The food and drink sector is showing once again that it does not stand still for long.
From major acquisition activity in complete nutrition, to targeted investment in meat product development, to a premium drinks business balancing global momentum against domestic pressure, the latest updates from Danone, Huel, Pilgrim’s Europe and Fever-Tree paint a vivid picture of an industry in transition.
What ties these stories together is not simply expansion. It is the way established and emerging brands are being forced to adapt to changing consumer habits, evolving regulations, and the growing importance of innovation, convenience and category diversification.
In different ways, each business is responding to a market that increasingly rewards agility, clarity of proposition and speed to execution.
Danone Moves for Huel to Strengthen Functional Nutrition
Danone has announced that it will acquire Huel under a definitive agreement, in a move designed to extend its functional nutrition portfolio and place a stronger foothold in the fast-growing complete nutrition space.
Huel has built its name around nutritionally balanced, convenient meal products that appeal to modern consumers looking for speed, simplicity and science-backed health benefits.
Its range includes powders, ready-to-drink shakes, hot and savoury meals, nutrition bars, supergreens and functional beverages. Built on a science-driven formulation approach, Huel’s products are designed to deliver essential macronutrients and micronutrients in plant-based, convenient formats.
The brand has already established a strong presence across the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, largely through a predominantly direct-to-consumer model. That D2C strength, combined with expanding omnichannel ambitions and a loyal customer base, has made Huel a compelling fit for a global group looking to sharpen its relevance in modern nutrition.
For Danone, the acquisition sits firmly within its wider strategic plan. The business has been following its Renew Danone strategy, first outlined by its leadership team in 2022, which triggered what it described as three significant resets: cultural, executional, and financial and business model.
The next chapter of that plan, presented at Danone’s Capital Market Event in June 2024, is focused on building on those restored foundations and projecting the company into the future of health and nutrition.
Danone currently operates across three health-focused categories: essential dairy and plant-based products, waters, and specialised nutrition. Its long-term plan includes gradually shifting the way it approaches those categories, especially around protein and gut health, while broadening business models, accelerating in away-from-home and medical nutrition, and expanding its geographic footprint.
Danone’s chief executive officer said the company is delighted to welcome Huel and its team into the Danone family, adding that what Huel has achieved in the fast-growing complete nutrition category strongly aligns with Danone’s mission of delivering health through food.
They said the combination of Huel’s product range and digital capabilities with Danone’s global reach and nutritional expertise creates exciting opportunities in a rapidly expanding space, in line with the Renew Danone strategy.
Huel’s chief executive officer said the deal marks the next step for the brand after ten years of building a business centred on having a positive impact on people’s health.
They pointed to Huel’s strong direct-to-consumer foundation, its growing international footprint and its scaling retail business, saying the partnership with Danone would provide the infrastructure, distribution and research and development capability needed to take the brand further into new markets and to more consumers.
The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Why the Danone-Huel Deal Matters
This is more than a simple portfolio addition. It reflects a wider food industry shift towards products that sit at the intersection of convenience, health, functionality and lifestyle branding.
Huel has succeeded by speaking directly to consumers who want nutrition that fits busy schedules without abandoning claims of completeness or scientific credibility. Danone, meanwhile, brings scale, manufacturing power, international infrastructure and deep nutritional know-how.
With around 90,000 employees, products sold in more than 120 markets, and €27.3 billion in sales in 2025, Danone has the global machinery to accelerate Huel’s next stage of growth. Its existing stable of international brands, including Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil and Volvic, shows the breadth of its reach.
Huel offers something different: a strong digital-native brand identity rooted in complete nutrition and modern consumer behaviour. Put together, the deal signals where major food groups increasingly believe future value lies.
Pilgrim’s Europe Invests in Pork Innovation at Bromborough
Elsewhere in the sector, Pilgrim’s Europe has opened a new Pork Centre of Excellence at its Bromborough site following a £350,000 investment, as the meat manufacturer looks to strengthen product development and accelerate innovation across its pork business.
The facility has been designed to support more efficient, higher-quality product development for customers. At its core is a developmental kitchen, supported by specialist equipment including an indoor charcoal BBQ for developing and demonstrating BBQ products, along with a dry ageing unit.
There is also a customer panelling area, allowing Pilgrim’s Europe to host tastings, innovation sessions and collaborative workshops with retail and foodservice partners.
The aim is to make new product development more collaborative and more streamlined, moving ideas more effectively from concept to kitchen table. The centre will focus on pork and added-value pork products, especially within growth areas such as BBQ and ready-to-cook ranges.
Pilgrim’s Europe’s president described the new centre as an important investment in the company’s innovation capabilities and part of a wider ambition to create centres of excellence across its different business units.
The business’s director of product and innovation said the combination of modern kitchen facilities, specialist equipment and dedicated customer collaboration spaces creates an environment where ideas can move quickly from concept to reality. They added that it gives teams room to explore new flavours, formats and product ideas while working closely with customers to showcase the versatility of pork.
The opening also follows the launch of a new Butcher Academy at Pilgrim’s Europe’s Westerleigh site, an initiative intended to help attract and develop fresh talent for the UK meat industry.
A More Practical Model of Product Development
Pilgrim’s Europe’s Bromborough move is notable because it reflects a very practical understanding of how product development is changing in food manufacturing. Retailers and foodservice partners increasingly want speed, flexibility and co-creation.
They do not just want suppliers that can produce at scale; they want suppliers that can innovate alongside them.
That is where this kind of centre becomes strategically valuable. It creates a dedicated environment for prototyping, tasting, refining and commercialising products faster, especially in segments where trends can move quickly and consumer expectations are high. BBQ and ready-to-cook products are strong examples of that, sitting in categories shaped by convenience, flavour innovation and seasonal demand.
Rather than innovation being boxed away in a lab or development office, Pilgrim’s Europe is positioning it as a visible, collaborative and commercially integrated function.
Fever-Tree Balances Brand Growth with UK Pressure
In the drinks segment, Fever-Tree has reported a more complex picture. The premium drinks brand saw its overall brand revenue rise by 4% year on year, accelerating to 5% growth in the second half of 2025.
Yet in the UK, revenue fell 2% to £108.4 million, reflecting a tougher domestic operating environment and the financial impact of Extended Producer Responsibility costs.
The company said that almost half of its group revenue now comes from products beyond tonic. This area delivered particularly strong momentum in the UK, with a 16% increase in growth.
Globally, ginger beer and pink grapefruit were standout performers, and Fever-Tree said it is now the largest global ginger beer brand by value, holding category leadership in the US and building traction across Europe, especially in France.
By contrast, tonic revenue declined 6%, reflecting softer demand for gin and continuing on-trade pressure.
To support the category, the business returned to TV advertising across several markets during the year ended 31 December 2025, investing in premium storytelling, advocacy and visibility across both on-trade and off-trade channels.
It also launched its Signature G&T initiative in the on-trade, partnering with venues to offer a high-quality gin and tonic at a more accessible price point. The intention was clear: protect the shrinking G&T occasion and support tonic volumes at a time when pressure on spirits consumption remains pronounced.
In the UK, Fever-Tree also introduced two non-alcoholic ready-to-drink can formats, a Gin & Tonic and an Italian Spritz, designed to tap into rising moderation trends.
The company said that while much of the no-alcohol growth so far has centred on beer alternatives, it sees a clear opportunity for a premium proposition in a broader range of occasions, with early signs proving encouraging.
Although the UK business ended the year down overall, performance improved in the second half of 2025, offsetting the sharper 6% decline seen earlier, with strong off-trade contributing to the recovery.
EPR Costs, On-Trade Weakness and the Molson Coors Effect
Fever-Tree’s results also underline the pressures facing branded drinks businesses operating in uncertain and increasingly expensive conditions.
The company said weaker UK numbers were driven by a challenging on-trade environment, shaped by higher labour costs, duty increases and continued consumer spending caution. That has weighed on spirits volumes, particularly gin, and therefore the mixer category that sits alongside it.
The group also said its lower-than-expected EBITDA was partly due to UK EPR rules, with £2.8 million adjusted to reflect these costs.
Fever-Tree maintains that certain glass formats sold in the on-trade should be classified as non-household packaging and therefore exempt from the levy, a position it says aligns with the UK government’s stance in other packaging regulations.
However, the Environment Agency has challenged that interpretation, prompting Fever-Tree to launch a formal legal challenge. Given the uncertainty, the Board has judged it prudent to provide for the potential incremental EPR liability.
There was also an impact from the US transition into Fever-Tree’s partnership with Molson Coors.
Under that agreement, Molson Coors assumed exclusive commercialisation rights to Fever-Tree’s portfolio in the US in February 2025. The brand is now embedded across around 400 regional distributors, but Fever-Tree said early costs and disruption linked to the transition also weighed on EBITDA.
The company’s chief executive officer and co-founder described 2025 as a pivotal year, saying the Molson Coors partnership creates a significant opportunity in Fever-Tree’s largest growth market.
They said the underlying brand momentum has remained strong and that long-term trends around premiumisation, moderation and longer, lighter serves continue to play directly to the company’s strengths.
As the business enters 2026, they said it does so with an upweighted marketing plan, a broader portfolio, strong leadership credentials and expectations that remain unchanged and in line with market expectations, despite geopolitical uncertainty.
What This Means for Food Manufacturing and Food Production
Taken together, these developments show that food manufacturing and food production are being pulled in several directions at once.
On one side, large groups such as Danone are seeking future growth through health-led acquisitions that bring modern product formats, digital capability and direct consumer relationships into the fold.
On the other hand, manufacturers such as Pilgrim’s Europe are investing in specialist facilities that help shorten development cycles, improve collaboration and create more commercially relevant products.
At the same time, brands like Fever-Tree are being reminded that innovation and demand are only part of the equation; regulation, packaging costs, distribution changes and channel-specific weakness can have a serious impact on profitability.
For manufacturers, the message is clear. Success in the next phase of the industry will depend on more than scale alone. It will require agile production, sharper innovation pipelines, closer customer collaboration, resilient supply and distribution structures, and the ability to adapt quickly to consumer trends in health, convenience, moderation and premium value.
Food production is becoming not just a question of making more, but of making smarter.
Conclusion
From Danone’s pursuit of Huel and the future of complete nutrition, to Pilgrim’s Europe’s investment in a purpose-built pork innovation hub, to Fever-Tree’s balancing act between global opportunity and domestic pressure, these stories collectively capture the mood of the modern food industry: ambitious, pressured, innovative and intensely competitive.
There is optimism here, but it is not blind optimism. It is rooted in infrastructure, strategy, product relevance and the willingness to evolve. Whether through acquisition, facility investment or portfolio diversification, the direction of travel is unmistakable.
The food and drink sector is reorganising itself around health, convenience, collaboration and resilience. For businesses across food manufacturing and production, that is not background noise. It is the shape of the market ahead.
News Credits:
Pilgrim’s Europe invests £350K in pork innovation centre
Fever-Tree profits hit by UK EPR and US Molson Coors transition
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