Royal Friesland Foods was a Dutch company that developed, produced and sold branded dairy products and fruit-based drinks. Royal Friesland Foods had a strong presence in Western Europe, Central Europe, West Africa and Southeast Asia. In 2008, Friesland Foods merged with Campina, under the new name of FrieslandCampina. The process was announced in December 2007. The EU conditioned the merger to the sale of certain cheese and dairy drink divisions by both companies.
Overview
Royal Friesland Foods employs 15,312, of whom 10,000 work outside the Netherlands. The cooperative's leading brands are Appelsientje, Bonnet, Chocomel/Cécémel, Completa, CoolBest, Debic, DubbelFrisss, Dutch Lady, Extran, Frico, Friso, Foremost, Friesche Vlag, Frisian Flag, Fristi, Milli, NoyNoy, Peak, Pöttyös Túró Rudi, Rainbow, and Taksi. Royal Friesland Foods is organized as a cooperative, with roots going back to 1879. It has grown through mergers and takeovers, the most significant of which occurred in late 1997, when four Dutch dairy cooperatives joined to create the business in its current form. In December 2001, KFF NV acquired the Drinks & Dairy division of Numico including the brands Chocomel/Cécémel, Fristi and Extran. Royal Friesland Foods gained its current name in June 2004 after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands granted it the Royal status in honour of its 125th anniversary. Prior to that, the company was known as Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods.
In Vietnam, the U.S. and Canada the company is well known for its canned condensed milk product, Sữa Ông Thọ, popularly used in Vietnamese iced coffee with milk drinks, and in various other Vietnamese desserts. Sữa Ông Thọ was mass-produced in the Saigon-Biên Hòa area and widely consumed in the Republic of Vietnam, produced by Friesland Foods prior 1975. It was used in coffee, mixed with hot water to produce hot milk for babies and young children to drink, dipped with French bread or in other dessert applications. After the 1975Fall of Saigon, the factories manufacturing Sữa Ông Thọ, along with all other commercial and private properties were collectivized by the communists, and the facilities came under the state companyVinamilk, who continued to produce Sữa Ông Thọ condensed milk under the same name and used domestically and elsewhere in Indochina. Friesland Foods continued production of Sữa Ông Thọ - Longevity Brand after 1975 in the U.S. and Canada for the North American market, especially catering to Overseas Vietnamese consumers, and increasingly to Western consumers as the popularity of Vietnamese coffee and cuisine in general, increases. In North America, Longevity Brand - Sữa Ông Thọ is widely available in Asian supermarkets, and increasingly in conventional supermarkets.
