News milk
After 7 years of being right against cooperation
After seven years of litigation, a livestock farmer with a large dairy farm in Germany appears to have won justice against the cooperative that evicted him after a dispute and confronted him with a hefty settlement.
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This is shown by an advice of the public prosecutor's office at the Supreme Court. The dairy farmer originally supplied approximately 4,2 million kilos of milk per year to the German subsidiary of DOC Kaas, DOC Kaas Milchproducte GmbH, and was therefore not a member of DOC Kaas.
The livestock farmer decided in 2016 to lease out his company and to continue to supply only a small portion of milk himself. The tenant's milk went to a German company affiliated with DMK. In 2016, DOC Kaas also merged its own German subsidiary with itself, making the German subsidiary's suppliers members of the Hoogeveen cooperative.
Then, according to the court ruling, the farmer's problems began, as DOC demanded that all milk be delivered to her. It resulted in a lawsuit, which the cooperative lost, after which the livestock farmer was expelled from the cooperative and 'costs' were settled with him. His share of the merger bonus (from the DOC Kaas/DMK merger) was also reclaimed.
This led to a long series of lawsuits, including an appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court (by DOC Kaas). This body must make a final decision early next year, but the advice from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which has now been published, means that the livestock farmer is in a positive position to be proven right. If this becomes reality early next year, DOC will have to repay him the monies claimed, including statutory interest.
At the end of last year, DOC received Cheese uneven in a case against a group of resigned members.