The verdict in three sentences
For a food manufacturing group with 3 to 5 subsidiaries selling across Europe, a multilingual corporate website (for example EN/NL/FR, with Arabic for Middle East partners) costs EUR 45,000 to 90,000 excl. VAT in 2026, depending on the number of brands and the depth of the sustainability section. The price gap comes mostly from right-to-left (RTL) Arabic support, the group, subsidiary and brand structure, and the quality of the compliance evidence (IFS, BRCGS, ISO 22000) that retail buyers check before a first meeting. Plan for 3 months of work and about EUR 1,000 per month of maintenance with EU hosting.
What retail buyers look for on your website
A category buyer at a retail chain in Amsterdam, Düsseldorf or Milan reviews a supplier's website before replying to an email. Within two minutes they want: valid certifications, production capacity, markets already served and a named export contact. If that information is missing or outdated, the file goes to the bottom of the pile.
For the communications director, the site has to serve three audiences at once: buyers and distributors, institutions and financial partners, and job candidates. A typical structure for a 4-subsidiary group fits in 25 to 40 pages:
- Group page: history, key figures, governance, production sites.
- Subsidiary pages: one per company (olive oil, canned goods, biscuits, packaging), with their own capacities and certifications.
- Brand pages: product universe, downloadable spec sheets, sales contacts.
- Sustainability and quality: IFS Food, BRCGS, ISO 22000 certificates, carbon reporting, sourcing.
- Export: countries served, pack formats, sample request form.
- Careers and press.
| Item | 2026 range (EUR excl. VAT) | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping, sitemap, workshops | 4,500 to 7,500 | Number of subsidiaries and decision makers |
| Group UI design + brand variations | 10,000 to 20,000 | One identity or one per brand |
| Development and multilingual CMS | 16,000 to 32,000 | Number of templates, approval workflow |
| RTL support and Arabic version | 5,000 to 10,000 | Mirrored layout, Arabic typography |
| Sustainability and certifications section | 4,000 to 9,000 | Dashboards, dated documents |
| Reviewed translations | 3,000 to 6,500 | Text volume, expert review |
| QA, technical SEO, go-live | 2,500 to 5,000 | Redirects, hreflang tags |
| Total project | 45,000 to 90,000 |
Arabic, RTL and hosting: the items not to underestimate
Translating into Arabic is not enough. A right-to-left version mirrors navigation, columns, directional icons and carousels. An agency relying on a translation plugin produces broken mobile pages, which partners in the Gulf or North Africa notice immediately. Plan for a dedicated Arabic typeface (Noto Kufi, IBM Plex Arabic), testing on iOS and Android, and clean hreflang tags so Google serves the right language.
Hosting matters too. Keep servers in the EU (Netherlands, Germany or France) with a CDN: load times stay under 2 seconds and GDPR compliance for your contact and sample forms is simpler. Publish a privacy policy in every language and collect explicit consent.
| Option | 2026 monthly cost (EUR excl. VAT) | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Basic shared hosting | 30 to 60 | No CDN, no SLA |
| EU cloud hosting + CDN | 120 to 250 | EU server, daily backups |
| Corrective maintenance | 300 to 500 | Updates, security, bug fixes |
| Evolutive maintenance (4 h bundle) | 600 to 900 | New pages, news, documents |
| Recommended full package | about 1,000 | EU hosting, security, 3 h of changes |
| Monthly SEO and analytics report | 250 to 450 | Traffic by country, buyer enquiries |
Typical 3-month schedule
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping and subsidiary workshops | 2 weeks | Approved sitemap, content plan |
| Group design and brand templates | 3 weeks | Desktop and mobile mockups |
| CMS development and RTL version | 4 weeks | Multilingual staging site |
| Content, translations, certificates | 2 weeks in parallel | Reviewed texts in every language |
| QA and go-live | 2 weeks | Production site, team training |
The main delay risk is collecting content from subsidiaries. Appoint one contact per company at kickoff and set a firm deadline for texts and certificates.
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Mini case study
Eva, communications director of a food manufacturing group headquartered near Amsterdam (4 subsidiaries, 60 % of revenue from export), approves a EUR 68,000 project and a EUR 1,000 per month maintenance package, which is EUR 80,000 in year one. Before the redesign, the group received about 6 qualified buyer enquiries per month through the site. With clear subsidiary pages, downloadable IFS certificates and a sample request form, a realistic target is 12 per month. If one enquiry in 20 becomes a contract worth EUR 50,000 of annual margin, the 72 extra enquiries over the year represent about 3.6 contracts, or roughly EUR 180,000 of margin: a 2026 order of magnitude that more than covers the investment.
FAQ
Should each subsidiary have its own website?
A single group site with subsidiary sections costs 30 to 40 % less than 4 separate sites and concentrates SEO authority. Separate sites only make sense for a consumer brand with its own marketing strategy.
Is an Arabic version necessary?
Only if you work with partners in the Gulf or North Africa. It accounts for EUR 5,000 to 10,000, roughly 10 to 12 % of the project.
Why insist on EU hosting?
Your buyers are in Europe: an EU server with a CDN keeps load times under 2 seconds and simplifies GDPR compliance for forms. Premium hosting adds EUR 100 to 200 per month.
How long does it take to update an IFS or BRC certificate?
With a well-configured CMS, under 5 minutes: the quality team uploads the PDF, the expiry date displays automatically and an alert goes out 30 days before it lapses.
Can payment be split?
The usual schedule is 40 % at signature, 30 % at design approval and 30 % at go-live, over a 3-month project.
Let's scope your project. Send us your list of subsidiaries, brands and target languages for a precise estimate between EUR 45,000 and 90,000 and a 3-month schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
