News Milk
Milcobel does not know how to stop dropouts through court
The Belgian Milcobel cannot stop dropouts for the time being. This week it lost an appeal against some of them.
The lawsuit was filed before the Court of Appeal in Ghent and came after Milcobel had previously been unsuccessful in a lower court in Dendermonde.
Milcobel initially claimed that this ruling would only apply to 14 dairy farmers who had participated in the preliminary relief proceedings. The court denied this and stated that the ruling applies in principle to all Milcobel members.
The Court of Appeal stated that the withdrawal ban, which Milcobel instituted last spring, cannot stand. This is mainly because Milcobel has not made it sufficiently plausible that the departure of a group of dairy farmers would endanger the continued existence of the cooperative. According to the judge, no convincing figures have been provided for this. In addition, Milcobel concluded an extensive long-term financing agreement with a bank consortium earlier this year and, after the withdrawal ban, it took over another cheese processor with a turnover of €40 million. A company in financial distress does not do that, according to the court.
Later this year, proceedings on the merits of a group of leavers against Milcobel will still be pending, but various Milcobel members who already wanted to leave will no longer be held back, they say. Royal A-ware expects to welcome several groups of them in the coming months. A spokesperson for the departing Milcobel members states that 1 farmers have switched to A-ware as of 45 August. As of September 1, 9 would follow and as of October 1, a total of 95.
Klaas van der Horst
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