Nutricia was founded in the Netherlands in 1901, the company settled in Poland in 1946 with a roasted grain beverage factory. In the 1960s the plant, then under the name Opole Concentrated Food Factory (Opolskie Zakłady Koncentratów Spożywczych), produced Poland’s first baby and childrens’ food. The year 1975 saw the startup of baby milk and milk mixes under the trade name Bebiko. By the late 1980s Nutricia was Poland’s leading infant and childrens’ food manufacturer in the country.

In 1993 Nutricia merged with the Dutch Numico concern. The company grew rapidly from 2003 to 2005, and today is Europe’s biggest producer of specialized childrens’ formulas. In November 2007 Nunico, and with it Nutricia, became part of the Danone Group.

With as crew of over 650 Nutricia is one of the biggest industrial plants in its region. The plant turns out around 44,000 tons of fbaby formula annually, 70% of its produce is sold to 44 countries worldwide, including the EU, Canada, Indonesia, the Mideast and Africa.

Over the past 3 years the company almost quadrupled production, at the same time managing to keep up customer satisfaction levels and cut down its negative impact on the environment.

Nutricia holds PN-EN ISO 9001:2001, PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 quality management certification, ISO 22000:2005 and ISO 9001:2000 certification in special baby food production, HACCP, GHP, GMP and EVISA work safety and work hygiene certificates, and answers to Danone Baby Nutrition inhouse norms. The company also holds ecological production certification under Directive 2092/91 EWG issued by Ekogwarancja PTRE.

After an audit in the company Lloyd’s Register recommended the issue to Nutricia of an ISO 14001 environmental management certificate. In all, Nutricia holds all required environmental certification.

The company lays special weight on waste management, CO2 reduction and water management. In 2007 9,000 tons of produce gave 1,200 tons of waste. Waste glass, plastics and other packaging materials are fully recycled, toxic waste is handed over for processing by specialized companies.

Reduced emissions to the atmosphere are the effect of constant heat monitoring, heated production halls and offices and the reclaiming of heat from production processes (by removing condensate from the drying cylinders and closure of the cooling water circuit in the rotoclaves). With the help of thermal pumps (the 2.85 MW system is one of the biggest of its kind in Poland) this heat is used to heat buildings and industrial water. In summer the pumps cool production halls in place of an air-conditioning system. Future plans entail heating all company buildings this way.

Nutricia has received numerous awards. In December 2007 the company was distinguished with an Investor in Human Capital award for its employee training schemes allowing each staffmember to monitor and improve their professional skill. Also offered are courses offering new production abilities, including operation licences for equipment and machinery. An EU-cofinanced training project concluded successfully last May, in the following month the company applied for funding for a regional development project entitled, Creating Regional Values Through Nutricia Employee Development. In all 331 Nutricia staffmembers have joined the 2-year scheme, to conclude in June 2010.

The company also holds a Polish Business Leader Diamonf Award (2008), an Opole Trademark title and a Hit 2007 award for the best baby meals from the monthly Mamo to ja (Mum It’s Me).

Nutricia is also active in charity work. For years now the company has supported a chioldrens’ home, a mother-and-child hostel and children’s hospice. The company also belongs to the SupportingLives project aimed at ensuring the best-possible living standards for child home inmates.