'Royal A-ware continues to go all out for milk'

In the meantime, a lot of attention is being paid to the alternatives, including at fellow companies.
"We see an emerging interest in alternatives, but milk contains so many nutrients that are not found in other products that milk cannot simply be replaced. In the Netherlands people may sometimes look at this differently, but the dairy sector is a future-proof sector that is of great importance for people's nutrition."

Since the takeover of grated cheese specialist Noordhoek in May last year, it has been relatively quiet around Royal A-ware, at least to the outside world. It has now been announced that you have entered into an agreement with Danone for the takeover of a Spanish dairy factory. This also means you have a production facility in this Southern European country. Is that it for this year?
Anker smiles: "In the Netherlands we are working on the centralization of the processed and smoked cheese activities. To this end, the production facility in Lopik is being renovated and modernized and the locations in Zaandam and Harderwijk will be closed. We are also working on this in Belgium, our second home market. an investment program. We are still working on the details. So I cannot say everything about that yet."

"The cheese factory in Estonia will start up in the second half of the year, we will do this together with our Estonian partner E-Piim and Interfood. The cheese factory in Ireland, which we are building together with Tirlán, will be put into use in early 2024."
 

The Netherlands and Belgium are your home markets, but you are now also active in production in many other European countries. Ireland, Italy, Estonia and now Spain. What's behind that?
"We want to be able to serve our customers worldwide as best as possible with the widest possible range from our own production locations. We sell our products to customers in retail, food service and B2B."

Yet it seems that you are still primarily a cheese company...
"We come from cheese, but we see ourselves as a dairy company with a wide range of dairy products and tapas."

With activities in so many different countries and therefore cultures, it does not seem easy to operate in the same way everywhere and, for example, to use the same sustainability strategy.
"We apply one sustainability strategy for the entire company. Local programs with farmers may differ, but the idea will always be that all links in the chain should benefit from such a program. We also organize the chains in such a way that we can have a healthy family business and can reduce the environmental impact. We are the first dairy company in the Benelux with a FLAG target (Forest, Land and Agriculture) under the SBTi (Science Based Target initiative). We demonstrate this commitment in a structured manner. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our chains."

"In this context, we are at an advanced stage in setting up our own carbon pool, for which we have had scientific research carried out into carbon fixation up to 60 centimeters deep in the soil. We will also purchase Guarantees of Origin (GoOs) from farmers and encourage We use green energy such as wind turbines. Our goal is to keep as much value as possible in the chain, while dairy farmers receive market-based prices."

It may be understandable that you invest in dairy in many countries, but in the Netherlands the social and business climate seems to be becoming increasingly difficult. Doesn't that affect you?
"Of course we see that polarization is increasing and that the world around us is changing. We stand side by side with the farmers and we believe in a future-proof dairy sector. That is why we also do what I just mentioned. We invest and We are also still looking for new dairy farmers who want to supply us."

Recently there was the news that Albert Heijn, with which you work closely, wants to broaden the Better for Nature & Farmer program and open it up to competitors. That is great and offers more farmers the opportunity to benefit, but isn't there also the danger that current participants will see their added value erode?
"No, I don't think so. Good agreements have been made about that. We will continue to develop the different milk flows that we now have, five in total. That is a trend that will continue. There remains a demand for sustainably produced milk."