# Functional Meal Replacement Deals Danone Buys Huel In €1.2 Billion Acquisition By Colin Smith | Written with AI assistance | Published 2026-04-06 | Business Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/danone-huel References: [beveragedaily](https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2026/03/23/danones-1bn-huel-deal-why-the-multinational-is-betting-big-on-meal-replacements/)  [Danone](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/danone-fortimel-balanced) acquired [Huel](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/meal-powder), the UK-based meal replacement brand, in a €1.2 billion deal that positioned the multinational deeper into functional nutrition, featuring Huel’s global omnichannel brand and in-house production capacity. The purchase followed Huel’s recent factory expansion in Milton Keynes and strong FY2025 revenue growth, giving Danone an established direct-to-consumer and retail footprint. The acquisition complements Danone’s 2026 [Alpro](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/alpro-meal-to-go) Meal To Go and earlier science-driven buys like The Akkermansia Company, aligning plant-based, gut-health and medical nutrition capabilities. For consumers, the tie-up signals faster mainstreaming of nutritionally complete, plant-forward meals backed by scientific R&D and scale, promising cleaner formulations, broader distribution and more product innovation in a category facing both growth and scrutiny over processing. Image Credit: Huel ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 6.4/10 - Popularity: 55% | Activity: 65% | Freshness: 71% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Business](https://www.trendhunter.com/business) > [Market](https://www.trendhunter.com/market) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Mainstream Functional Meal Replacements:** This trend signals nutritionally complete, shelf-stable meals moving from niche to mass market with potential to upend traditional grocery and convenience food portfolios. - **Omnichannel Nutrition Platforms:** Increasing integration of direct-to-consumer, retail and owned production creates vertically coordinated brands that can rapidly iterate products and control margins across channels. - **Science-backed Plant-forward Formulations:** Rise of R&D-led, plant-based and gut-health focused recipes points to opportunities for clinically validated formulations that compete with both supplements and conventional meals. ### Where This Applies - **Consumer Packaged Foods:** Established CPG companies face disruption from meal replacement entrants that bring direct consumer insights, faster innovation cycles and alternative supply chain models. - **Direct-to-consumer Retail:** DTC channels driven by subscription and digital marketing are positioned to displace parts of traditional retail for repeat nutritional purchases and personalized offerings. - **Medical Nutrition and Gut-health Therapeutics:** Convergence between functional foods and medical nutrition is creating space for nutritionally complete products with clinical claims that blur lines between food and therapy. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Nutrient-Rich Dairy Drinks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/oikos-fusion.md) - [Weight Loss Medication Meals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/good-fuel-meal-range.md) - [Private Equity Café Acquisitions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/centurium-capital.md) - [Plant-Based Bottled Meal Replacements](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/alpro-meal-to-go.md) - [High-Protein Meal Powders](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/meal-powder.md) - [Personalized Supplement Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/personalized-supplement.md) - [Heat-and-Eat Jarred Bean Meals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/biona-world-bean-meals.md) - [Value-Minded Grocer Meal Deals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/asda-meal-deal.md) - [Flexible Meal Delivery Brands](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/daily-harvest-2.md)