De Lelie

What De Lelie does

De Lelie nv, trading as De Lelie Zuivel, is a Belgian family-owned dairy producer founded in 1932 and headquartered at Kwade Weide 5 in Kalmthout. The company manufactures an artisanal range of pasteurized-milk products organized into seven core lines: natural yogurt (full-fat, skimmed stand, and churned), full-fat fruit yogurt (blueberry, peach-maracuja, strawberry, apple-raisin, cherry, forest fruits, raspberry), low-fat fruit yogurt, natural fresh quark (platte kaas) in full-fat, half-fat, and skimmed variants, low-fat quark with fruit, 10% fat Greek-style yogurt, and Potjevol Ontbijt breakfast pots. Production relies on traditional slow fermentation at low temperatures with natural and traditional yogurt/cheese cultures, and weekly output is calibrated to demand to keep product extra-fresh.

De Lelie serves two customer segments. The primary segment is individual Belgian consumers purchasing through retail stores across Flanders and Wallonia. The secondary segment is B2B professionals, including retailers, food manufacturers, and food service operators, served through a direct sales channel that offers bulk packaging (buckets, containers) and a dedicated phone and contact form. The company also runs a small direct-to-consumer brand layer through a Facebook page (@deleliezuivel) and the #DeLeliePartout hashtag. No pricing is publicly disclosed; consumers are directed to retail points and professionals to direct contact.

The business is operated by the third generation of the founding family (Stefan, Hilde, and Christophe). It is a privately held, self-funded Belgian public limited company (nv) with 11-50 employees, no external investment, no M&A history, no patents or awards disclosed, and revenue that is not publicly reported. Production is concentrated at the single Kalmthout facility, with geographic reach limited to the Belgian domestic market.

Name

De Lelie

Legal name

De Lelie nv

Website

https://deleliezuivel.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1932

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

De Lelie is a Belgian family-owned artisanal dairy producer, founded 1932 in Kalmthout, manufacturing yogurt and fresh quark (platte kaas) for Belgian retail consumers across Flanders and Wallonia and for B2B professional buyers via bulk packaging.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisanal Dairy Manufacturing

NAICS

Food Manufacturing (311)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAHADAH

Cultured Cottage Cheese & Quark Manufacturing

Agriculture & Food Production/Dairy Processing/Yogurt & Cultured Dairy Products (Kefir, Sour Cream, Labneh)

SECONDARYAFAHADAC

Drinkable Yogurt & Kefir Manufacturing

Agriculture & Food Production/Dairy Processing/Yogurt & Cultured Dairy Products (Kefir, Sour Cream, Labneh)

Keywords

• Artisanal dairy products
• Fresh quark cheese
• Greek-style yogurt
• Traditional fermentation dairy
• Belgian fresh dairy

Headquarters

HQ city

Kalmthout

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Artisanal Dairy Product Sales: De Lelie generates revenue through the sale of artisanal yogurt and fresh quark (platte kaas) products to retail consumers and B2B professional customers. Products include natural yogurt, fruit yogurt, Greek-style yogurt, quark (platte kaas), and breakfast pots.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

De Lelie produces artisanal Belgian yogurt and fresh quark (platte kaas) using traditional, slow, low-temperature long-fermentation methods with non-industrial cultures. The company sells plain and fruit variants of Greek-style yogurt, natural yogurt, plain quark, fresh Hüttenkäse-style cottage cheese, and fruit quark, distributing them in distinctive branded consumer bottles to retail outlets and in 5 kg bulk cans to professional B2B buyers.

Product overview

De Lelie is a Belgian family-owned dairy company founded in 1932, specializing in artisanal yogurt and fresh cheese (platte kaas/quark) made in Kalmthout. The product portfolio consists of seven core product lines: natural yogurt (available in whole, skimmed stand, and churned varieties), full-fat yogurt with fruit (blueberry, peach-maracuja, strawberry, apple-raisin, cherry, forest fruits, raspberry), low-fat yogurt with fruit (grenadine, cherry, orchard fruits, strawberry, pineapple, vanilla), natural fresh cheese (full-fat, half-fat, and skimmed), low-fat fresh cheese with fruit (cherry, strawberry, peach), Greek-style yogurt (natural, salted caramel, blood orange), and Potjevol Ontbijt breakfast pots (mango-passionfruit, blueberry-raspberry, apple-honey). All products are pasteurized milk products made using traditional fermentation methods with live yogurt cultures. The company distributes throughout Flanders and Wallonia, Belgium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Greek-style Yogurt Strawberry

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Danone: Global dairy and plant-based foods giant with extensive yogurt portfolio (Activia, Danio); represents the dominant incumbent competing for the same premium yogurt shelf space De Lelie occupies in Belgium.
• Lactalis: World's largest dairy group with extensive fresh and cultured product lines across Europe; relevant incumbent serving the same retail and foodservice channels with broader portfolios.
• Arla Foods: Scandinavian dairy cooperative with broad yogurt and cultured product portfolio across Northern Europe; relevant incumbent competitor with overlapping product categories and distribution scale.
• FrieslandCampina: Dutch dairy cooperative with major Belgian operations producing yogurt, quark, and dairy desserts; the most direct large-scale incumbent competing head-to-head on Belgian retail shelves.

Direct peers

• Müller Dairy: German-origin dairy with extensive yogurt and quark portfolio across European markets; directly comparable product mix including spoonable yogurts and fresh cheese formats.
• Fage: Greek dairy company specializing in strained/Greek-style yogurt; directly comparable through shared focus on authentic cultured dairy and Greek-style yogurt overlap with De Lelie's Yoghurt Griekse Stijl line.
• Yeo Valley: UK organic dairy brand producing traditional yogurt and related cultured products; comparable artisanal pedigree, family-farmer heritage, and premium positioning mirror De Lelie's brand narrative.
• Chobani: Greek-style yogurt specialist operating at scale with premium positioning; comparable through overlapping Greek-style and traditional yogurt SKUs and the broader trend toward protein-rich cultured dairy.
• Ehrmann: German family-owned dairy manufacturer specializing in quark, yogurt, and dessert products; directly comparable to De Lelie's quark/yogurt portfolio with a similar traditional, premium positioning.

Emerging players

• Skyr Iceland: Icelandic-origin cultured dairy brand expanding across European markets; relevant as a parallel artisanal-yet-scaling cultured dairy player competing for the same health-conscious, premium yogurt consumer.

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/deleliezuivel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about De Lelie