Holland Dairy invests heavily in Ethiopia

Holland Dairy will invest considerably in the expansion of the dairy factory in Ethiopia in the coming years. The aim is to scale up the processing of milk into yoghurt to 30.000 liters per day. Agrobericht Buitenland reports this on Monday 11 November.

The Holland Dairy dairy is located near the capital Addis Ababa. In order to achieve the target of 30.000 liters per day, it only purchases milk from livestock farmers with an (by Ethiopian standards) above-average herd size and production per cow. The products (milk and yoghurt) are then sold completely in Ethiopia.

One challenge is that only 5% of the country's milk production is processed into dairy products in factories, writes Agro-messages Abroad† Most of it takes place informally. Moreover, the decrease often takes place irregularly, which leads to uncertainty among local farmers. "Since we pay a clear price, set up collection points and invest in a cold transport chain, we create more certainty," Daan Meijners, the local director of the dairy, told Agrobericht Buitenland. 

Local business development
According to Meijners, investments are not only made in expanding the number of collection points and the processing capacity of the factory, but also in the development of local farms. "If we improve the water and feed quality, use antibiotics selectively and make minimal adjustments to the barns, this can quickly lead to 20% to 30% more milk," says Meijners.

To this end, it works together with development organization SNV and animal feed producer De Heus. The latter has its own feed factory in Ethiopia. "That is why we are currently in consultation with De Heus about the supply of concentrates to our suppliers."

Minority interest for FrieslandCampina
The dairy factory in Ethiopia was set up 10 years ago by Dutch and Ethiopian entrepreneurs. In 2017 FrieslandCampina and Veris Investments invested in this Ethiopian dairy factory. They now have a minority interest and a majority interest in Holland Dairy respectively.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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