Our heritage

Martinus wanted to be closer to where people lived and worked. For this reason, the company began to open shops in major cities and some of the larger provincial towns.

To help those in smaller towns, Van der Hagen sent out ‘travelers’ to select suitable partners. Not every potential partner made the grade but those that did were given careful guidance on how to run their businesses.

Success dictated change and to keep up with demand for its specialized nutrition products, as well as make room for the latest in manufacturing technology, 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 remained Nutricia’s centre of excellence for producing specialized nutritional solutions for infants and young children with special dietary needs.

After more than 50 years working at the forefront of specialized nutrition, Nutricia had gathered a wealth of information on the importance of specific nutrients during infancy, and for managing ill health during a child’s early years – through to adulthood.

As a company rooted in nutritional science, our scientists are always looking for ways to better understand how the nutrients we consume through our diet are digested by the body.

This ambition led to the creation of an intestinal simulation model, developed in collaboration with academic & scientific partners. A breakthrough in nutritional sciences, the simulation model was the first of its kind in the world.

The use of this model allowed Nutricia’s scientists to unlock a world previously unknown to them, and to apply this knowledge to the development of new and innovative nutritional solutions.

Danone opens a new sustainable Nutricia plant in Cuijk, the Netherlands, to meet the growing, global demand for specialized infant formula. The new Nutricia plant is a state-of-the-art, sustainable, zero-waste facility, powered with 100% renewable electricity. The €240 million investment is among Danone’s largest in its European production network in the last ten years.