Van Diepen wants to further strengthen the foundation of Cono

With Gerben van Diepen, the Cono cooperative once again has a North Holland chairman. Even more, a chairman who lives almost next door. Van Diepen lives in the village of Graft, just a few kilometers from Westbeemster. Geographic proximity was not a criterion for becoming chairman, but 'being North Hollander' does carry weight. Simply because the vast majority of members and cheese factories are located there.

But there's more. Van Diepen has been a member of the general board since 2018, has extensive administrative experience and believes in the power of collaboration. "I see that the 'own' part is increasing among the members. You see this throughout society, you also see it at Cono. The position of your own company is increasingly in the foreground, but there are also many things that are better done together. Why do we have a jointly owned cheese factory? That is because not all of us can or want to make and sell cheese ourselves. Cono has also built up a strong brand position, with which we can earn a good milk price for all members ."

So Cono is still a strong cooperative?
Van Diepen: "I think so. This also emerges from research on member involvement. That research was conducted just before the corona outbreak, so a year and a half ago, but not much will have changed."

General manager Wim Betten agrees: "From a business perspective, we have also established a solid foundation. We are doing well, with on the one hand still the highest average milk price in the Netherlands and on the other hand a constantly growing portfolio of well-profitable brand products."

Van Diepen: "We are not the largest cheese maker when it comes to kilograms, but we do have a large cheese brand with Beemsterkaas. That helps us."

Betten: "In addition to Beemster cheese, we make more cheeses, and all our cheeses are sold under a brand. No gray cheese goes out here. The cheese that our partners sell is all sold under a brand that they have licensed from us. Together with them we continue to build on those brands. Time has also helped us, so we have more than just cheese. Think of: fat milk, whey (which we sell through our partners for infant nutrition) and milk powders. We always use these products more as a specific Cono product."

Cono has a reputation to uphold when it comes to grazing, sustainability and climate. You have chosen climate positive. Preferably as much collectively as possible?
Van Diepen: "We want to achieve these goals together, but the members can achieve this in their own way. Our sustainability program has 18 points to score on, but you only have to meet 15 points to earn the full bonus."

Betten adds: "The fact that we switched to Vlog with the entire cooperative was commercially necessary and has made us stronger."

Cono also benefits from the protected status of North Holland milk and North Holland cheese. FrieslandCampina therefore pays its members in North Holland an extra €0,02 per kilo...
Betten: "Cono does more than that. We still prepare North Holland cheese in the traditional way, without sweetening the product. We aim for authenticity as much as possible, both in the production process and in the ripening process. And on top of that we have built a strong brand. Apparently it is so inspiring that others like to copy our formula. Cono was the only cheese factory in North Holland. Now there are more cheese factories instead of factories."

Cono makes cheese in a partly artisanal, traditional way, with open cheese bins. Yet Cono has not stood still. In ten years, approximately 100 million kilos of milk have been added, with a supply now of more than 400 million kilos.
Betten: "Fortunately, our sales volume continues to grow every year. We adhere to the rule that we do not make more cheese than we can sell. If we have too much milk, we sell it or make another product from it, such as milk powder. We have a powder tower in Westbeemster, where we normally dry all the whey and make milk powder. But if necessary, we can even powder our entire milk supply. That is of course only an option in the event of real emergencies."

Cono's focus is in North Holland. Most members are there, but there is also an Overijssel part. What are the relationships in terms of members and milk supply?
Van Diepen: "The majority of the members, with approximately 75% of the milk, are located in North Holland. The remainder are located in 'East Holland' and partly in South Holland and Friesland. Where members are logistically very far from the route , milk is sometimes exchanged with other processors. They also do that with us. That is sustainable and cost-saving."

Cono is mainly cheese and cheese is consumed less and less in the traditional way. It is processed into products. The market may not be saturated, but where is it going?
Van Diepen: "We cannot close our eyes to the major trends, such as those towards vegan. We do not yet have a vegan product ready and no market introduction is planned yet, but we are looking at what we can and should do with it."

Tell us more about Cono and vegan?
"If we want something, it must always support what we are already doing. It must have added value. We are thinking of something in the direction of products from our own farm. Whatever we do, it must always be good for the members are."

Betten agrees: "At Cono we are brand builders, sometimes a bit progressive, such as with the switch to GMO-free and we are working on a climate-positive chain. This fits in with the list."