Danone has inaugurated its largest medical nutrition production line in France, completing a €70 million investment at its Steenvoorde site that positions the plant as one of Europe’s leading hubs for specialised nutrition.

The launch, marked in the presence of Group CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique, adds capacity for nearly 20 million litres of oral nutritional supplements a year and will produce almost 150 references from the Fortimel range.

Meeting a growing health burden

The investment responds to a demographic and clinical trend the Group has flagged as central to its strategy: the number of people aged over 60 is expected to double by 2050, driving sustained growth in demand for medical nutrition. Disease-related malnutrition already affects between 30% and 50% of hospitalised patients, according to WHO Europe figures cited by Danone.

Medical nutrition has been positioned as a key pillar of the Group’s Renew Danone strategy, with the company stating it is strengthening production capabilities, deepening scientific expertise and continuing to innovate to meet evolving patient needs. In France, Danone Santé Nutrition — which brings together the Group’s early life and medical nutrition activities — is tasked with helping healthcare professionals integrate specialised nutrition more closely into care pathways.

Steenvoorde’s expanded industrial role

The new line brings together three strategic manufacturing activities on a single site: infant formula, medical nutrition, and specialty dairy ingredients produced using filtration technologies Danone has developed in recent years.

The Group said the Steenvoorde plant stands out within its network for its industrial expertise in producing ingredients used in specialised nutrition products, many of which are also manufactured on site — including the diverse formats, textures and recipes, among them plant-based alternatives, that will now be part of its expanded Fortimel output.

The project, announced in 2024, also included a biomass boiler inaugurated in February 2026, intended to reduce the site’s carbon footprint.

“Steenvoorde embodies Danone’s global strategy to advance health through food: investing in science, manufacturing and local ecosystems to grow specialized nutrition and help address some of the world’s most pressing health challenges across all stages of life,” said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone.

Emmanuel Varigas, Steenvoorde site director, framed the investment as a step-change for the facility itself: “In just a few years, Steenvoorde has moved to a new scale. Thanks to the investments made and the expertise of our teams, the site has become a key player in specialised nutrition in Europe, supporting the development and production of increasingly innovative solutions for patients.”

A regional anchor for French industry

Beyond the production line itself, Danone framed the investment as reinforcing France’s industrial, healthcare and economic sovereignty. The Steenvoorde site works with more than 400 partner farms in the Hauts-de-France region, and regional milk collection has increased sixfold over four years. With 115 years of industrial history, the site now accounts for more than 400 direct jobs, rising to over 700 across the wider region when combined with the Bailleul dairy plant and the Lilpark logistics centre.

The Steenvoorde project sits within a broader capital programme across Danone’s French operations, which will total more than €600 million between 2021 and 2027. For a Group generating €27.3 billion in sales in 2025, the Steenvoorde build-out is a relatively modest single investment — but it signals where Danone sees durable growth: specialised, clinically-relevant nutrition aimed squarely at an ageing, higher-need patient population across European markets.