News Dutch Milk Foundation
Nearly 200 dairy farmers leave FrieslandCampina
In the past twelve months, 190 FrieslandCampina member dairy farmers have switched to another dairy processor. This is evident from figures from the Dutch Milk Foundation (DMF).
The number of switchers from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023 is again high, but has sometimes been higher. For example, between July 2021 and July 2022, 284 dairy farmers made use of the scheme, which entitles them to a severance premium of €5 per 100 kilos of milk. This was a record number at the time.
There were a total of 199 applications, with nine applications from the previous period still being processed. Of these, one has been rejected, while eight applications are still pending. The 190 departures took 226 million kilos of milk with them.
Arrangement almost full
The so-called severance scheme stems from the merger between Friesland Foods and Campina in 2008. The European Commission approved the deal at the time, on the condition that 1,2 billion kilos of raw milk was made available to third parties. In total, 88% of this volume has now been allocated to other parties. This means that the scheme is almost full. It has been especially fast in recent years. In the early years after the merger, the members were much more loyal to the cooperative. In the past fourteen years, 914 applications have been granted, representing 1.058 million kilos of milk. There are still 142 million kilos to forgive.
The high outflow in recent years is a result of restless within the cooperative, although the atmosphere seems to be improving. In addition, many (private) processors are actively recruiting, given that the milk pool in the Netherlands is threatening to dry up. FrieslandCampina itself is also recruiting dairy farmers again after years of membership freeze, also in Germany and Belgium.
Wouter Job
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
