Babybel

Mini Babybel is a brand of small snack cheese products that are individually packaged and available in various flavors. It is a product of Le Groupe Bel (French for 'The Bel Group'), a company with roots in the Jura region of France, started by Jules Bel in 1865.[1] Half of the global production of Mini Babybel is made in Évron, a commune in the northwest of France.[2]

Babybel
Country of originFrance (produced worldwide)
Source of milkCow
PasteurisedYes
TextureSemi-hard
CertificationTrademarked brand name
Related media on Commons

In the United States Le Groupe Bel produces the Mini Babybel cheeses in Kentucky.[3] In March 2016, Bel Brands USA opened a new plant in Brookings, South Dakota. At the time, Bel Brands projected that its 250 employees would produce 1.5 million Mini Babybel cheese wheels per day.[4] In July 2018, Le Groupe Bel announced that the company had 12,700 employees in 30 subsidiaries around the world and that their first Canadian production facility would be in Quebec.[5]

Products

The "Original", most popular,[6] Mini Babybel is an Edam-style cheese made from pasteurised milk, rennet, lactic ferments, and salt.[7] It is made using traditional Edam-making processes, except that rennet from vegetarian – rather than animal – sources is used. It is also naturally lactose-free.[7][8]

Mini Babybel is known for its packaging, consisting of a netted bag in which each piece of cheese is encased in a blend of colored paraffin and microcrystalline wax,[9] inside of a cellophane wrapper made of wood pulp, cotton, or "other vegetation."[7] Numerous flavors of Mini Babybel are offered across the world.

The red wax encasement being removed from a Babybel cheese

Flavors (with corresponding wrapping colors)
Babybel plant-based cheese
Flavour Colour References/comments
"Original" Edam Red (all locations)
"Light" Edam Light blue (all locations) Sponsored by WeightWatchers in Canada [10]
Organic Edam
  • Light Green and White, with "Bio" in green letters (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom)
  • Light Green and Red, with "Bio" in green letters (Slovakia)
 Vegetarian
Cheddar
  • Black (Canada, United States)
  • Orange (Australia – discontinued)
  • Purple (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Slovakia, Spain – discontinued, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom)
 [11]
Emmental Yellow (Belgium, Canada – discontinued, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Spain – discontinued, United Kingdom)
Gruyere Yellow (Canada, Switzerland) [11]
Goat's cheese Green (Canada – discontinued, France – discontinued, Ireland – discontinued, United Kingdom – discontinued)
Gouda
  • Brown/Orange (Canada, Germany, Norway – discontinued, United States)
  • Yellow (Ireland – discontinued, United Kingdom – discontinued)
Monterey Jack Turquoise (United States) [12]
Mozzarella Green (United States, Canada – discontinued, Greece – discontinued) [11]
"Sharp Original" (cheese type unknown) Magenta (United States)
"High Protein" Black (Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Italy – discontinued, Netherlands – discontinued, Portugal)
Plant-Based Cheese Green, with leaves (Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States) Vegan. Appears in a pouch instead of a net bag. Made with a "blend of coconut oil and starch."[13]
Plant-Based "White Cheddar" Green wax/wrap colour unknown (United States) Vegan. Appears in a pouch instead of a net bag. Made with coconut oil and starch.[14]

Babybel products
Babybel mini rolls in pixelated plastic packaging
  • Mini Babybel
    • Mini Babybel (AT, AU, BE, CA, CZ, DE, ES, EE, FI, FR, GR, IE, IT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, SK, UK, US)
    • Mini Roulés/Enrollados/Mini Rolls – Edam only (CA, CH, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL)
    • Babybel Plus+ Probiotic (AU)
    • Cheese & Crackers – Edam, Edam Light, and White Cheddar (Discontinued)
  • Babybel Maxi – Edam only (BE, FR)
  • Babybel Tranches/Scheiben – Edam only (BE, CH, DE, FR)
  • Babybel Light Cheese Apple & Grapes – Light Edam only (UK)

Advertising

An advertising jingle associated with the product plays on the lyrics of the song "Barbara Ann" by The Regents. Use of said jingle started in France in the end of the 1970s, and then emerged to other parts of Europe and French-Canada by the start of the 1990s. They tout the product as an "always on the go and ready for anything" snack cheese.

The advertising for Babybel in the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s had the slogan "Too tasty to share".

As of 2012, a recording of the song "Get in Line" by I'm from Barcelona has been used in their adverts, where the band rerecorded the song with a children's choir. In August 2012, there was controversy over its promotional use of the French slogan "Des vacances de malade mental" ("having a mental holiday", or literally "holidaying like a mentally ill person") which was deemed offensive to people with learning difficulties or mental illnesses.[15][16]

References
  1. "A Behind the Scenes Look at the Bel Saga". Le Groupe Bel.
  2. Robin, Claire (2018-08-08). "Agroalimentaire. Bel voit grand pour son mini Babybel en Mayenne". Ouest-France. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  3. Hall, Trish (1987-04-22). "American Beckons to Foreign Foods". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  4. Associated Press (2016-03-05). "Brookings Mini Babybel cheese plant part of South Dakota push to boost dairies, milk products". Fox Business.
  5. The Canadian Press (2018-07-13). "First Canadian Mini Babybel plant to be built in Quebec". Global News.
  6. "Mini Babybel® Original". Babybel Greece (in Greek). 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. "FAQS". Babybel UK. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. Arla Foods amba. "Edam | Everything you need to know about Edam cheese". Castello Cheese. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  9. "FAQ". Babybel Canada. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  10. "Hungry Girl Goes... In Search of "2 for 1" Snacks (PointsPlus® Bargain Combos!)". Weight Watchers. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  11. "Mini Babybel: The perfect snack". Babybel Canada. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  12. "Babybel Monterey Jack Cheese | Babybel®". Babybel USA. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  13. "Babybel® Plant-Based". Bel UK. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  14. "Plant-Based White Cheddar Cheese | Babybel®". Babybel USA. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  15. Chrisafis, Angelique (2012-08-08). "Babybel maker apologises for 'clumsy' gaffe". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  16. "Campaigners call for Babybel boycott after mental illness 'insult'". The Independent (UK). 9 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
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