Milcobel from the basement to the attic

Milcobel's recovery can certainly be called remarkable. Internally, it is mainly attributed to a major efficiency improvement that has been made with the help of the Feniks strategy and the Compass savings program. Loss-making activities have been rigorously stopped, persistent files have been resolved and internal sacred cows have been demolished. It all helped a lot.

Market up, freed from retail
Meanwhile, the dairy market also boomed and prices rose to unprecedented levels. Something that almost the entire dairy industry benefited from, with the exception of those companies that had too many and too large retail contracts. In retail, it was and is the most difficult to implement rapid price increases. Milcobel was fortunate, however, to have divested its loss-making drinking milk activities just before the current round of price increases.

Finally, the rapid improvement in results at Milcobel runs parallel to the arrival in Belgium of the Dutch A-ware. This may have given Milcobel an extra incentive to perform well, but according to the company, no causal link can be established. There are also other competitors who keep Milcobel on its toes, such as Laiterie des Ardennes.

In recent years, a large group of members have left Milcobel. They have opted for other customers, including the ones mentioned above. The cooperative regrets this, but it must find a way with it and fight back, as stated in Kallo.

A higher milk price brings more peace of mind
Milcobel sees that the good milk price it can achieve brings back the necessary peace of mind. Encouragement is also drawn from the last series of member meetings, which were well attended and where, according to the cooperative, 'new traction' was created with the members. The milk supply of members is also on the rise again. On average, supply has increased by about 4% in recent months. The total volume of processed milk in 2021 is almost 1,4 billion liters.

Grow mozzarella
In order to maximize the value of the extra milk supply with the best returns, Milcobel is working on increasing the production capacity of mozzarella. Milcobel's mozzarella site is Langemark. Mozzarella has been produced there for twenty years. The capacity now amounts to 50.000 tons per year. The plan is to increase that capacity even further. Milcobel prefers to do this in partnership with another party.

In addition, the Belgian market leader wants to give an extra boost to sales of consumer cheese in its own country. To this end, a campaign has been set up for 'homegrown cheese', in which Milcobel wants to draw extra attention to Belgian Gouda, Belgian Brie and Belgian Camembert, among others (this campaign should not be confused with Vlam's campaign for 'Cheeses from our home'). .

Bought little Belgian cheese
The reason is the observation that Belgian consumers purchase only 18% of domestically produced products when making their checkout purchases. For comparison: Dutch consumers buy about 80% Dutch cheese, French consumers buy 64% French cheese. In addition to cheese, Milcobel also produces milk powders, but preferably special powders, which provide a better yield.

Milcobel does work with several milk flows, including meadow milk. This goes to the consumer cheese factory in Moorslede. However, the company has no desire to get back into consumer dairy. The factory in Schoten is closed and a stronger focus on cheeses and milk powder is great. In addition, there is still the Ysco ice cream division. This is usually a well-profitable part of Milcobel, but this activity is highly seasonal. For example, last year's turnover was a lot lower due to bad weather and Covid, although the profit achieved is higher than in 2020.  

All in all, the company looks to the future with confidence. In addition to good business performance, amended milk money regulations should also help to better retain members. To this end, a shift was made in the premium system, doubling the sustainability premium and reintroducing a system of volume surcharges.