Manufacture of food products
Activities
NACE division 10 · 32 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artisanal bread and fresh pastry making10712 | 4,183 | 371 | 41 | 6,720 |
| Manufacture of cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery10820 | 721 | 56 | 3 | 7,832 |
| Manufacture of food products10520 | 600 | 35 | 5 | 1,226 |
| Manufacture of food products10111 | 582 | 13 | 10 | 2,777 |
| Manufacture of food products10711 | 503 | 18 | 10 | 7,004 |
| Manufacture of food products10850 | 446 | 75 | 8 | 1,578 |
| Manufacture of rusks, biscuits and preserved pastry goods10720 | 437 | 61 | 4 | 3,410 |
| Manufacture of food products10890 | 392 | 35 | 5 | 8,126 |
| Manufacture of food products10130 | 323 | 14 | 3 | 3,872 |
| Manufacture of food products10510 | 266 | 13 | 2 | 4,552 |
| Manufacture of food products10830 | 231 | 20 | 1 | 799 |
| Manufacture of food products10910 | 179 | 2 | 0 | 2,126 |
Show all 32 activities
| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture of food products10610 | 120 | 10 | 0 | 1,102 |
| Manufacture of food products10840 | 109 | 11 | 0 | 741 |
| Manufacture of food products10120 | 105 | 4 | 0 | 2,051 |
| Manufacture of food products10200 | 99 | 10 | 3 | 572 |
| Manufacture of food products10392 | 99 | 10 | 1 | 1,324 |
| Manufacture of food products10320 | 95 | 5 | 0 | 448 |
| Manufacture of food products10391 | 89 | 6 | 2 | 1,341 |
| Manufacture of food products10860 | 86 | 4 | 0 | 894 |
| Manufacture of food products10311 | 75 | 4 | 0 | 2,556 |
| Manufacture of food products10920 | 68 | 5 | 0 | 272 |
| Manufacture of food products10730 | 61 | 2 | 1 | 446 |
| Manufacture of food products10410 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 2,679 |
| Manufacture of food products10393 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 2,021 |
| Manufacture of food products10312 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2,173 |
| Manufacture of food products10112 | 18 | 6 | 0 | - |
| Manufacture of food products10620 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1,196 |
| Manufacture of food products10810 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1,187 |
| Manufacture of margarine and similar edible fats10420 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 35 |
| Manufacture of food products10113 | 5 | 4 | 0 | - |
| Manufacture of food products10119 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - |
Filed accounts
NACE division 10 · financial year 2025 · 4,482 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | - | - | 32.4% | 32.5% | 31.4% | 32.7% | 34.3% | 33.9% |
| Median net result | - | - | €16,858 | €19,381 | €13,535 | €18,741 | €20,565 | €16,921 |
| Filed late | 38.0% | 45.2% | 43.0% | 43.7% | 41.1% | 39.8% | 38.2% | - |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 10
1,383 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €47,400 | €38,300 to €57,100 | 563 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €54,000 | €44,800 to €64,400 | 552 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €63,400 | €56,500 to €75,700 | 211 |
| 250 FTE or more | €74,100 | €66,600 to €86,700 | 57 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies per year in division 10
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 116 | 103 | 106 | 107 | 126 | 58 | 68 | 102 | 134 | 97 | 115 | 90 |
| Jobs lost | 1,188 | 578 | 385 | 341 | 893 | 153 | 150 | 364 | 582 | 328 | 440 | 456 |
2026 through September. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 03-11-2026 | BAKKERIJ THIJS
BE 0448.828.601 |
| 03-11-2026 | Patisserie Storms
BE 1008.278.277 |
| 30-10-2026 | Flowy
BE 0419.422.159 |
| 30-10-2026 | NATÜRLICH HUNGER
BE 0671.656.902 |
| 26-10-2026 | ALMAZ HIBA
BE 0794.451.378 |
| 22-10-2026 | DFM SAVEURS
BE 0451.326.152 |
| 20-10-2026 | LE PETIT FOUR
BE 0742.662.187 |
| 13-10-2026 | Dehossay, Sarah
BE 0696.622.029 · sole trader |
Running bankruptcies in the sector
NACE division 10Measured nationally: Of 108,606 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 29% after liquidation, 3% were withdrawn. After five years, 20% were still open. Half had ended after 26 months (a quarter after 15, three quarters after 51 months).
This counts companies with this main activity in the register on 5 November 2026. The outcome itself is not measured by sector. The activity of a company that leaves the register after its bankruptcy is too often not kept to compare closed cases fairly.
Spread across the country
by region and province · 6,240 of 9,619 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
This sector's balance sheets on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE division 10 · staff from the latest accounts- 1 PURATOSDilbeek 1,453 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 FERRERO ARDENNESArlon 1,228 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 FrieslandCampina BelgiumAalter 1,129 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 Barry Callebaut Belgium NVLebbeke 1,017 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 LUTOSALeuze-en-Hainaut 1,010 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 2,199 companies- 118 Food industry 1,298
- 201 Independent retail 895
- 220 White-collar workers in the food industry 842
- 119 Food trade 188
- 302 Hotels and catering 157
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 107
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 34
- 116 Chemical industry 25
Show the 12 others
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 22
- 144 Agriculture 12
- 140.03 Road transport and logistics for third parties 8
- 145 Horticulture 6
- 124 Construction 5
- 202 White-collar workers in food retail 5
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 4
- 112 Garages 3
- 120 Textile industry 3
- 140 Transport and logistics 3
- 143 Sea fishing 3
- 319.02 Educational and residential institutions 3
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Foreign control in NACE division 10
5,286 registered companiesSubsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €176.2m awarded
- Federal transfers 1.3m amount as published
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €26.9m paid
- EU budget €3.5m attributed share
- EU research €3.6m EU contribution
Insights on Food products
Balance sheet and result. 16.2% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. Solvency of 33.3% is below Belgium's 46.1%. Liquidity of 1.21 is below Belgium's 1.66.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.9% is above Belgium's 0.2%. In 12 months, 10.3 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is more than in 87% of the 87 other NACE divisions. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 1.1% at under 10 FTE, 0.5% at 10 to 49 FTE, 0.3% at 50 to 249 FTE and 0.4% at 250 FTE or more.
Inflow and structure. Wallonia holds 27.3% of the seats, against 22.7% in Belgium. Half of the companies are younger than 9.4 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. 35.1% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium.
Staff and filing. The median staff cost per FTE of €53,951 is below Belgium's €61,416. The 5 largest employers hold 5,836 of the 71,061 FTE: 8.2%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 32.4% in financial year 2020 to 33.9% in financial year 2025. In 2025, Statbel counted 115 bankruptcies and 440 jobs lost, against 58 bankruptcies in 2020.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 05-11-2026 05:30.
Method and sources
Every company registered today counts under its main activities in the KBO. Establishment units do not count. Staff counts once, under the employer's first main activity, from its latest accounts and only where it fits the staff costs. The count follows the NACE 2025 classification, the version in which code 10 exists.
The bankruptcies over five years count only companies still registered today, because the activity of a company that left the register is not kept. So they are fewer than the bankruptcies of those years, and the figure is not a probability for the future. Over twelve months the count is nearly complete, because a bankrupt company stays registered while its bankruptcy runs. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other NACE divisions rests on an overview of every division, counted again each night. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A standing such as "more than in 80%" compares with the other divisions that have the figure. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median over its companies with a score. Belgium here counts the 1,275,887 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,448 registrations publish no activity.
Each median is the value of the middle company, computed over the annual accounts of financial year 2025, and is shown only from 30 accounts. A share (loss-making, negative equity) counts that year's accounts with that trait. Accounts are late when they are filed after the statutory deadline.