FrieslandCampina, one of the world’s “largest dairy companies”, has announced it is investing in its whey production network in the Netherlands.
The company said it is expanding its capacity to convert internally sourced whey into premium protein ingredients for performance and active nutrition, early life nutrition, and medical nutrition.
The €90 million investment will see technological upgrades implemented across multiple production sites to support the manufacture of advanced protein products.
The Dutch dairy co-op said “global demand for high-value whey proteins continues to grow across sports nutrition, lifestyle nutrition, and specialised medical applications.
“This dedicated investment programme postitions FrieslandCampina and its Ingredients business group to respond to this growth by increasing capacity and strengthening the flexibility of its whey valorisation chain,” the co-op added.
President of FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Anne Peter Lindeboom commented on the investment, saying: “Global demand for advanced protein solutions continues to accelerate.
“This programme is the next step in our broader investment strategy to lead in high-value proteins, building on recent investments to strengthen whey capacity and valorisation in the Netherlands.. and in the US through the acquisition of Wisconsin Whey Protein.
“By investing across our ingredients network, we are strengthening our ability to serve customers worldwide and to create more value from our whey streams in a sustainable and future-orientated way,” he concluded.
The company stated that this new investment programme would ensure that FrieslandCampina’s facilities in the Netherlands “remain competitive, technologically advanced and aligned with future market and customer needs”.
The co-op said it is “putting its Doing Dairy Right motto into practice through focused choices for growth, stability and value creation across the value chain”.
FrieslandCampina, which processes milk from over 14,000 dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, said it hopes to phase the investments over the coming years and full operational capacity is expected in 2028.
Sustainability
According to the co-op, the investment also contributes to its broader environmental ambitions, while ensuring continued compliance with Dutch and EU environmental standards.
It said the programme includes “state-of-the-art energy and water-efficient technologies and the phase-out of older production lines”.
The co-op expects Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by approximately 16 kilotonnes of CO2.
The whey industry
Previously a disregarded product, whey has grown into a €7 billion global market.
Laurens van Delft of the European Whey Processors Association (EWPA) previously told Agriland that: “Demand for whey proteins is growing strongly and could outpace cheese in certain segments or markets.
“However, as whey is still largely derived from cheese production, supply remains structurally linked to cheese volumes.
“Although this relationship may evolve over time as processing strategies and new technologies develop,” van Delft added.
As reported by Agriland last month, prices for food-grade whey powder have risen to approximately €1,700 per tonne, the highest level on record, according to data from Dutch firm DCA Market Intelligence.
Standard whey powder (around 11% protein) has increased by more than 50% since January to €1,700 per tonne.
For delivery in the second half of 2026, even higher prices are being paid.
Highly concentrated products, such as whey protein concentrates (up to around 90% protein), have risen to approximately €20,000 per tonne over the past year, DCA data shows.