Europe’s smaller processors fight for survival in the milk marketplace

Amalgamation is continuing apace among dairy processors, but one Swedish co-operative is showing that it’s possible to compete

by NORMAN DUNN

Like everywhere else, Europe is the scene of large-scale amalgamations within the dairy sector. With around a million dairy farmers supplying processors with some 135 billion litres of milk, 14 of the world’s top 20 milk processors are at home here. And they’re continually growing.

In 2009, Campina and Friesland Foods in the Netherlands merged to form FrieslandCampina, the fourth largest processor in the world with 15,300 supplying farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium delivering 10.8 billion kilograms of milk.

Better Farming - April 2011