Vandemoortele acquires the oldest Belgian margarine producer, Albers, and starts producing and selling margarines with great success.
Vandemoortele expands from a national producer into a European producer of oils and fats – crude oils, refined oils, bottled oils, margarines, fats and mayonnaise.
In 1962 the company starts producing and selling deep frying oils.
For decades Vandemoortele has supplied bakeries with oils and fats. In the 1960s Vandemoortele starts to create new added value products for bakeries, such as dough and puff pastry. These products begin to make the baker’s life easier, by gradually taking out the hard labour and the early morning start and allowing a broad assortment of freshly baked bread and pastry all day long.
In 1974 Vandemoortele starts a whole new product category, launching soy milk, under the ALPRO® brand. Due to Vandemoortele’s long term focus ALPRO® has been given plenty of time to invent a whole new product category and deliver a return on investment.
In 1978 Vandemoortele creates a new business unit for frozen bakery products.
ALPRO® extends into a broad range of soy based products, driving growth for decades. Unlike most of Vandemoortele’s business, ALPRO® is a consumer goods brand, that is sold to grow under other ownership in 2009.