News milk
Cono eliminates entrance fee for newcomers
Anyone who wants to become a member of Cono Cheesemakers no longer has to pay an entrance fee since September 1. This was decided by the board of the cooperative. The reason is that Cono wants to maintain the milk volume in the current shrinking market and does not want to create unnecessary obstacles for new members.
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The new rules also mean that newcomers can now become members immediately. As far as Cono is concerned, there is no longer a waiting period. Newcomers to Cono do not necessarily or preferably have to come from North Holland. Overijssel members are just as welcome as North Holland members. In the not so distant past, Cono was better able to add value to North Holland milk, but that situation has changed in the meantime, says general manager Jerry Griep. The valorisation options for other milk have now been improved.
The entrance fee at Cono was €3,00 per 100 kilos of milk, so a newcomer with 1 million kilos of milk can keep €30.000 in his pocket if he comes over to the cooperative. For Cono, the loss of entrance fees from newcomers is not a big financial drain, says Griep. The milk that comes with it is more important. Incidentally, maintaining milk volume is not a goal in itself for the cooperative. It is also necessary to be able to implement the new strategy that the cooperative is working on. More about this will be announced later in the year.