| Babybel | |
| Country: | France (produced worldwide) |
| Source: | Cow |
| Certification: | Trademarked brand name |
| Texture: | Semi-hard |
| Pasteurised: | Yes |
Mini Babybel is a brand of small snack cheese products that are individually packaged and available in various flavors. It is a product of fr|[[Bel Group|Le Groupe Bel]]|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]
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, French: 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]
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.[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." In November 2023, Babybel customer services stated they are committed to working toward better environmental practices, but this has yet to show any progress in the U.K."In addition, all of the Mini Babybel portions are held together in a net, which uses less plastic than a plastic bag or container".
"As part of our Group CSR policy The Bel Group is committed to work toward 100% recyclable and/or biodegradable packaging by 2025".
There are no plans to move away from the controversial netting design that can cause harm to animals. Numerous flavors of Mini Babybel are offered across the world.
| Flavour | Colour | References/comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Original" Edam | Red (all locations) | ||
| "Light" Edam | Red, with light blue stripe on red cellophane (all locations) | Sponsored by WeightWatchers in Canada [10] | |
| Organic Edam |
| Vegetarian | |
| Cheddar |
| [11] | |
| Emmental | Yellow (Belgium, Canada – discontinued, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Spain – discontinued, United Kingdom, United States - discontinued) | ||
| Gruyere | Yellow (Canada, Switzerland) | ||
| Goat's cheese | Green (Canada – discontinued, France – discontinued, Ireland – discontinued, United Kingdom – discontinued) | ||
| Gouda |
| ||
| Monterey Jack | Turquoise (United States) | [12] | |
| Mozzarella | Green (United States, Canada – discontinued, Greece – discontinued) | ||
| "Sharp Original" (cheese type unknown) | Magenta (United States) | ||
| "High Protein" | Black (Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Italy – discontinued, Netherlands – discontinued, Portugal, Norway) | ||
| Plant-Based Cheese | Green wax, green wrap 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, dark green wrap with leaves (United States) | Vegan. Appears in a pouch instead of a net bag. Made with coconut oil and starch.[14] |
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]