Cono Cheesemakers fights back to the top

The good result for 2024 is no reason to sit back now, he immediately notes. Cono has had to fight hard in recent years to deliver results and a group of members has also left, taking a large amount of milk with them. That is never something a cooperative is happy about, according to Griep and it also made it necessary to further tighten things here and there. And then there is the greatly increased uncertainty in general. Both economic and political unpredictability have increased greatly.

How do you view the world now: is it still positive because Cono is on an upward trend again, or is everything uncertain and therefore a matter of waiting?
"It makes everything more exciting. In the past, we used to make a number of scenarios in our forecasts of how things could go and that was more or less it. That doesn't get you there now. We have to be much closer to everything now. We are more closely monitoring the milk supply, how it develops and how you should act on that basis compared to our predictions. We have also always had a good stock of cheese at Cono, and stock is also important, because we have always had a high delivery performance. We want to keep it that way, in combination with the position of our brands. On the other hand, a lot of money is also invested in maintaining a large stock. So that also keeps us closer to developments. We plan the use of our milk much more precisely."

"Cheese and especially branded cheese is and remains our strength, but we can also get more value from our 'white flows'. By that I don't just mean cream and concentrates, but also the whey. Many large cheese producers keep production high not only because of the cheese, but also because of the whey value. This has really taken off in recent years. Whey sometimes earns more than cheese."

And you want to go more in that direction? Because it can be assumed that the value ratio of cheese and whey at Cono is perhaps somewhat different than at the large producers.
"That's right, and sometimes people think that we can just build a whey refinement factory of €30 or €40 million. You also hear that from our farmers sometimes, like: invest then! But even though we are a solid company, we are not so big that we can do everything ourselves. For us, a strategic collaboration is more obvious, and the installations are there."

We were just talking about Cono's brands. How are things going with branded cheeses? Haven't brands become less important to many supermarkets?
"In retail, the relevance of brands is decreasing. That is a clear trend, but supermarkets still need brands to build up product categories. The good thing for us is that Beemster remains on the shelves because of taste and quality, as a strong A-brand."

Grazing has always been important to Cono, especially for the image of the brand. However, due to a shift in general focus, CO2 reduction is an increasingly important criterion by which the livestock farming and dairy industry are judged. In practice, this clashes with grazing. Now a motion has been adopted in the House of Representatives for mandatory grazing (Holman motion). Are you happy with that?
"No. It is a fact that farmers are increasingly coming under pressure to stop grazing their cattle, but that also has to do with the current situation and in our opinion is no longer sufficiently focused on practice and changed insights tailored to the rules of the Weidegang Foundation. If you have a 'free-range cow', as is the case with many farmers, where cows can choose when they go in and out, how do you register? With the existing rules you will then get into trouble, because they were drawn up in a different time. And we do not want to end up in a situation like in Germany with Haltungsstufe 3. That is not good for grazing. Farmers are paid less for grazing and are increasingly keeping their cows indoors. We are trying to stay away from that and have started a pilot for electronic registration of grazing. With this we hope to strike a positive chord with farmers, eliminate unnecessary irritations, and give the cows the freedom they want: if it is too hot or if it is raining hard, they can go into the barn, and if it is more moderate weather, then they can go outside. Even at night if they want to. With the current regulations, an inspector cannot see that, but then again, cows do not have office hours. In summary: we are in favor of maintaining pasture, but with positive incentives for cows and farmers, not with the law in hand."

Cono started the new Caring Dairy program in January towards 2030. What has changed and how does this help farmers to a stronger milk price?
"The new program makes it more interesting to work on the sustainability goals for 2030. With the renewed Caring Dairy program, farmers are also rewarded based on results. An important addition is that the premium system uses scales, so that participants are rewarded for their efforts sooner. For those who are already performing well within the previously existing program, more premium can be earned through the scales if they perform even better. The number of indicators (editor's note: eighteen) has remained the same. In this way, Cono is taking more and bigger steps forward in the field of sustainability with all participating farmers, so that all farmers. It also gives the flexibility to focus on those indicators that are closest to their own company. As of 2025, Cono farmers will focus on four important domains: climate, animal welfare, biodiversity and farmer & society. The reward is there: where farmers could previously earn up to 4 cents extra, they can now earn 6 cents extra per kilo of milk."

In the past months, a number of members have left Cono and a fair amount of milk has also left. What does that do to Cono?
"As a cooperative, we always find it a shame when members leave, because you do something together. On the other hand, the core of the group that has now left had been dissatisfied for years and then you may have to act in the same way as in a marriage that no longer works. Then it is good that farmers end up where they feel at home. Moreover, it is not the case that Cono is no longer in the spotlight. This year, seven farmers have already joined."

"The departure of the first-mentioned members meant that we had to tighten things up a bit here and there, but it also increased the internal focus on business efficiency. We are not a bulk producer that has to be 100% full. We would rather make 500 tons too little than one cheese too many. The fact is that the cheese factory is designed for a larger volume of milk than we are currently processing. So we could still use some more milk, but that has its limitations. We are not going to get milk from abroad, as others do. We limit ourselves to Dutch milk. As a smaller brand producer, we will never be the cheapest, even though we have the milk picture complete."

Some of your cheese ends up in specialty stores, but retail sales are very important to you. How do you see the relationship with retail developing?
"We notice that supermarkets also see that the world is changing. The availability of food, including dairy, is increasingly becoming a point of attention. You also see that supermarkets are becoming more committed, because of the security of supply. An example is the agreement that Jumbo made a while ago with DOC Kaas. In Germany you even see a movement back to a situation that used to exist more: the retail sector is looking for its own processors again. We are not looking for the latter, but we do call on customers to make stronger agreements, because: cherish what you have in Dutch product. That availability will become more limited in the coming years due to all the policies that are affecting agriculture."

Have you developed any new products in recent years?
"Yes, we launched the Beemsdammer - a Maasdammer type, but better (according to Griep with a laugh) and the Royaal Grand Cru, awarded as 'chosen of the year'. And at the end of the year, the Paradiso cheese will be launched on the market, a type of Proosdij cheese. In addition, we are also developing 'Beemster Inside' with partners, products with our cheese in them for drinks and cooking. Think of the 'Pajo de Queso with Beemster' and a Beemster cheese ball.

How are the Amsterdam Cheese Company stores doing? They had a hard time during the corona period.     
"We went from five to four stores. One of the stores was actually too small to run properly and also turned out to be less favourably located. The rest have recovered well and are doing fine."

How is Kaas van Noord-Holland, the collaboration with Klaver Kaas, going?
"That's going well too. Among other things, herb cheese is made for us there and cheese in other forms, but we are not the only ones who have cheese made there."