'We get our milk from anonymity'

The Oostdam family from Bodegraven (South Holland) recently made the choice to sell their milk under a private label. This is done in collaboration with supermarket chain Picnic. “We had wanted to self-dairy for a long time and when Lely launched the Orbiter, we embarked on the adventure.”

Jorden (52) and Yvonne (51) took over the company about 20 years ago and over the years they have continuously scaled up. Both in land and in the number of cows and thus the milk production. From that point of view, the choice was made 12 years ago to switch to milking with 2 robots. This way of working suits us well, because last year old robots were exchanged for 2 new Astronaut A5 robots from Lely.
 

greenhouse stable
The company now has 130 dairy cows. The herd is a motley crew, because a lot of foreign blood is used in breeding. “We cross the Holstein cows, for example, with Montbélierde (a French breed) or sometimes with Swedish red-and-white cows,” says Yvonne. “We believe that crossbred animals are stronger and healthier. We use Triple A, a mating advice program, for the bull choices.”

The cows on the farm are kept in a greenhouse, where they have unlimited access to fresh drinking water, roughage and deep litter boxes throughout the day. The barn has a translucent roof, but with shade fabric, so that no direct sunlight shines through the barn. “We opted for this housing system in 2008 because we want to imitate the outside situation as much as possible. The cows always have the same temperature inside as outside," says Yvonne.

Long lifespan
In the summer the cows can choose whether they want to be inside or outside. There is a sprinkler system in the barn. There is also an overpressure ventilation system with fresh outside air above the cubicles. “It is therefore not surprising that many cows stay indoors on hot days. The cow's comfort is central in our barn. This may be a bit more labour-intensive, but it extends the lifespan”, Jorden motivates. “The average age of our cows is 7 years. That is one year more than that of the average livestock in the Netherlands. Our oldest cow is even 15 years old and still very healthy. As long as she's okay with it, she can stay. She still walks through the milking robot several times a day.”

Private label milk
Until recently, all milk from the company was purchased by milk powder producer Vreugenhil Dairy Foods. Recently, however, the family has entered into a partnership with online supermarket Picnic and Lely. With this they supply part of the milk within their own private-label milk. A part is also collected by Vreugdenhil. Depending on consumer demand, this ratio may change in the future.

The milk for the private label is processed with the Lely Orbiter, also called a mini-milk factory. “We believe that the connection with the consumer is becoming increasingly important. But we wondered how we could get the milk on the consumer's table. This is how the collaboration with Lely and Picnic arose. The milk is packaged by us and delivered to the consumer by Picinic using electric cars,” Jorden explains.

With this, the family joins MijnMelk, a platform that aims to reduce the distance between the farmer and the consumer. With MijnMilk, the consumer can see from which farm the milk comes. “Because we now process the milk ourselves from cow to bottle, we know exactly where the milk goes. This is how we get our milk out of anonymity.”

self-dairy
The arrival of the Lely Orbiter gave the family the last push to realize their plans. “We had been thinking about milking our own milk for some time now. However, it is very complicated and expensive to organize such a production chain yourself. Then Lely came around the corner with the Orbiter and we started the adventure together'', says Jorden. He cannot yet say whether the switch to a private label will result in a higher milk price. “It's too premature to say that. The product has only been on the market for a week. It mainly depends on what the demand is going to do.”

The milk of the Oostdam family is not standardized. So no components are removed from or added to the milk. “It is pure nature”, Jorden says. Where milk in the store is often standardized to 3% fat, the milk from the Oostdam family contains between 4,5 and 5% fat, depending on the season. “That also makes our milk fuller and creamier,” says Yvonne.

Future
Jorden and Yvonne look to the future with confidence, they have 4 children: Nicole (23), Niels (21), Jeroen (18) and Erwin (16). Niels and Erwin show great interest in taking over the company in the future. “It is motivating for everyone to work with 2 generations within our family business”, concludes Jorden.

Source photos: HvdM

Chanti Oussoren

Editor at Boerenbusiness who studies the dairy, pig (meat) and feed markets.

c.oussoren@boerenbusiness. Nl

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