Nutricia

Nutricia is a part of the Danone group that specialises in therapeutic food and clinical nutrition. Products range from infant formula to specialised nutrition for babies with specific needs and for breastfeeding mothers. It also produces and markets special clinical nutrition and diet products.

Not to be confused with Nutricia North America.
Logo of Nutricia

History
NUMICO logo
Old Nutricia logo

In the 19th century mothers who were unable to breastfeed used wet nurses – women hired to breastfeed other women’s children – or cow’s milk to feed their babies. The composition of cow’s milk was not appropriate for feeding infants and, at that time, could be a source of disease contributing to high infant mortality across Europe.[1][2]

1885 the German Professor Alexander Backhaus pioneered a technique in his laboratory that removed the more slowly digested casein protein from cows’ milk, leaving behind only the faster dissolving and more easily digestible whey proteins.[3] With his invention Backhaus improved tolerability and succeeded in developing an infant formula that approached the composition of human milk. This meant that many new-born babies could now benefit from nutrition tailored to their needs[3]

1896 Professor Backhaus filed a patent and presented his invention at a medical conference in Berlin. Dr. Johannes van der Hagen, a medical doctor and Dutch Public Health Inspector was in the audience. Johannes saw a great future for the margarine and dairy products factory owned by his brother Martinus van der Hagen in The Netherlands[3][4][5]

1901 The brothers van der Hagen met with Professor Backhaus and he granted them rights to manufacture Backhaus infant milk formula. The Nutricia name was adopted in 1901 and quickly gained popularity becoming known as “The Wet Nurse of The Netherlands.”[3]

1906 Nutricia pioneered the concept of specialized nutrition and developed special diet products such as low-sugar milk for diabetic patients and iodine-rich milk for those suffering from goiter[5]

1924 Nutricia moved its main (powder) production facilities (from van der Hagen’s original factory) to the N.V. Cuijk’s Dairy Factory. For almost a 100 years, this factory is still one of Nutricia’s centre of excellence for producing specialized nutritional solutions for infants and young children with special dietary needs.

1946 Nutricia sets up its first research facilities in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands.

1950 Nutricia introduced ‘Voedingsnieuws’ ‘Nutrition News’, a dedicated team of dieticians who - armed with the latest research Nutricia had gathered over the past 50 years - travelled around the Netherlands and to other countries educating healthcare professionals on the role of specialized nutrition.

1986 Nutricia opened a consumer Care Line, managed by qualified dieticians helping consumers, carers and healthcare professionals.

2007 Danone acquires Royal Numico, a €12.3 billion offer accepted by the Numico board.[5] Danone announced ownership of over 90% of Numico's shares on 31 October 2007, declaring its offer for the remainder unconditional.[6] As a result, Numico was removed from the AEX index. The company's shares were delisted from the Amsterdam Stock Exchange at the end of 2007 as Danone gained full control.[7] The brands owned by Numico -Nutricia, Milupa (part of Nutricia since 1995) and Cow & Gate (part of Nutricia since 1981) became part of Danone. The acquisition of Royal Numico reinforces Danone’s mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible.

2019 Danone opened a new sustainable Nutricia plant in Cuijk, the Netherlands for specialized infant formula; a state-of-the-art, sustainable, zero-waste facility, powered with 100% renewable electricity.

See also

References
  1. UTP Journals Vincent J. Knapp. See obituary on p. 407. CBMH/BCHM / Volume 15: 1998 / p. 317-36 https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.15.2.317
  2. Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth. Stanley L. Engerman and Robert E. Gallman, eds. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-20928-8 1986 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6806299.pdf
  3. Drivers of Innovation in Pediatric Nutrition. Koletzko B, Koletzko S and Ruemmele F, eds. Nutrition Institute Workshop Series Pediatric Program, Vol 66. Karger AG, 2010. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3as6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=professor+alexander+backhaus&source=bl&ots=ccbauy_mws&sig=ACfU3U3Of8fnZlb2N_9p6n5Zu8Epwd5SKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjxwcX0xojnAhXHQEEAHWg3ASwQ6AEwAHoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=professor%20alexander%20backhaus&f=false
  4. From milk by-products to milk ingredients: upgrading the cycle. De Boer, R. Wiley, 2014, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9zAKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT163&lpg=PT163&dq=professor+alexander+backhaus&source=bl&ots=9ucm5v1Cu1&sig=ACfU3U3zY-fc7Sl1HbIGQi22el5JmGtarA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjxwcX0xojnAhXHQEEAHWg3ASwQ6AEwBnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Nutricia&f=false
  5. Cross-Border Investing: The Case of Central and Eastern Europe. Djarova J. Springer, 2004. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kKISBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=nutricia+van+der+hagen+diabetes+goitre&source=bl&ots=tG2SoBGtIr&sig=ACfU3U3w_8qp1_bZnsS1KEDxObpx2Zjc_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQs5msmu_nAhXKQEEAHTrrAPkQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=nutricia%20van%20der%20hagen%20diabetes%20goitre&f=false
  6. "Danone says Numico bid unconditional, holds 90.5 pct". Reuters. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  7. "Delisting of shares" (PDF). Euronext. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.