Back in 1934, the founder of the Vandemoortele group was already aware of the benefits of soya. 40 years later, his grandson Philippe Vandemoortele was convinced of the nutritious power of the soya bean. In his pilot factory he perfected a unique and natural process for making soya milk.

Philippe had a vision: with his advanced soya production method he aimed to tackle the nutrition problem in the Third world.  An early project saw the construction of a soya plant on the island of Madagascar in 1980. Unfortunately, for logistical reasons, the project had to be discontinued.

But at about the same time, increased awareness of food issues meant that creating a soya-based business in Europe was a very real possibility. These included the renaissance of vegetarian food, increased demand for cholesterol-free food and a solution to cow’s milk protein allergies.

To this end, the Vandemoortele Group set up a separate division specialising in natural soya-based food in 1980. Alpro was born.

In 1989 Alpro built Europe s largest and most modern production unit for soya food based on the UHT process, situated in Wevelgem (Belgium). In 1996, Alpro took over Sojinal and thereby acquired an extra soya milk production unit in Issenheim, France. In 2000 Alpro built a brand new soya milk factory in Kettering UK.

To complete our range of soya products, we took over the Tofu producer SoFine Foods in 2006.

Alpro keeps growing as a European market leader and as a fair food partner...