Farmel has Vecozuivel running at full speed again

Things have been different at the producer of fresh dairy products. Vecozuivel was always the company that did a lot with organic dairy and many different product flows, a specialist in small batches. The occupancy of the lines was often not optimal. "At the time of the takeover, capacity utilization was about 50% and that is too low. Now we employ about a hundred people and they are busy."

Preferred supplier Jumbo
Van Tilbourgh makes no bones about it. The margins in fresh dairy are not such that it can be economically healthy to operate at half capacity. Fortunately, Farmel took quite a bit of work with him.

What has been added and changed?
"Jumbo in particular has joined, with the Beter Leven dairy. The milk flow has grown considerably. That has given a big boost to the occupancy here, because the flow of milk for this and the product range have been expanded considerably. We also make other dairy products for Jumbo. We have become their preferred supplier."

That's a nice step! In the meantime, you're still doing more, aren't you?
"Certainly. We now work with five different milk flows. That's actually a bit much. We have the Better Life quality mark, organic, conventional, PlanetProof and goat's milk. We make about thirty different types of dairy, and then I have We don't yet know about the labels that go on them. The difficult thing about many different types of dairy is that you have to switch a lot and do extra cleaning. If you do it smart, you can limit delays, but too much switching costs capacity and turnover."

You are an experienced manager, know the world of fresh dairy and, among other things, you have managed Farm Dairy. What do you see as your first mission at Vecozuivel?
"My focus now is on optimizing the factory. We have resolved the leak, but we need more leeway. Now, overtime has to be worked too often in the event of failures. That is why I want an extra pasteurizer and more storage tanks."

The processing capacity for fresh dairy products is not available in the Netherlands. A recent malfunction at a neighboring dairy factory even had to move to Germany. How did that happen?
"A lot of capacity has disappeared in recent years. Some large factories have closed and not everything has been replaced. As a result, we regularly have to reject requests for processing. The space is not there. Moreover, there is less and less dairy from abroad. You see that even German concerns such as Aldi and Lidl put Dutch dairy on their shelves, because consumers demand it. Perhaps the consumer's goodwill towards Dutch farmers also plays a role."

Aren't consumers increasingly opting for plant-based dairy?
"The market for dairy substitutes is growing, but the effect is not so great that it is really noticeable in fresh dairy production."

The available production capacity is therefore tight. That may also mean wider margins for processing...
"It's not that simple. Passing on milk price corrections to the retail sector is still possible, but passing on other increased costs - for transport, energy and packaging - is much more difficult. And then there is another concern: how to find and keep Do you have good staff? Fortunately, I can call on Ukrainian workers, among others, but trained technical staff is a problem. And then such people are also drawn away by seconders, who we can then hire back as self-employed persons."

If I may, back to the ambition. What is the goal after the optimization?
"Vecozuivel wants to be a good producer for retail. We are honored to be a preferred supplier of Jumbo, with various milk flows. We have a reputation to uphold as a specialist in organic, Better Life and other dairy products."