FrieslandCampina pleased with the influx of members

This is the message that CEO Jan Derck van Karnebeek and chairman Sybren Attema conveyed at a meeting with trade journalists towards the end of the year. The market is tough, but there have also been successes, they emphasize. They acquired an American whey processor, merged, and there are still markets where profit is being made.

To be proud of performance
"We're proud of how we're doing," says Van Karnebeek. The company is naturally also struggling in markets like milk fat and cheese, and is dealing with new tariffs and trade wars. "But there's always a market somewhere that's on fire," the CEO observes. 

Safe market with margin
FrieslandCampina operates in a wide variety of markets, in various parts of the world, and therefore its risks are well-diversified. Van Karnebeek points out that FrieslandCampina is strong in high-quality ingredients, particularly whey ingredients. This is a lucrative market, and the company hopes to tap into it with its recent acquisition of Wisconsin Whey Products. "We're strengthening something we're already good at." An added advantage is that this company is based in the US, which also provides additional geographical separation, plus the US remains a relatively safe market.

Chinese market
Other safe and also quite profitable markets are those for medical nutrition and related products, such as high-quality infant formula. Perhaps telling in this regard is that FrieslandCampina is also facing new Chinese trade tariffs, but not for infant formula and other high-quality products. This just goes to show that the Chinese authorities really do know what they're doing.

Riskier markets too
Meanwhile, the company also wants to be active in fast-growing consumer markets elsewhere in the world. There's money to be made there, but the business climate is often more uncertain, and results can fluctuate significantly.

Smooth collaboration
A key factor in all activities is that the company as a whole operates smoothly and is well-coordinated. According to Van Karnebeek, this is also the focus of his work. "I spend most of my time ensuring our business model runs smoothly." The integration of the Milcobel companies will require extra attention in this regard, but the hope in Amersfoort is that this can be tackled swiftly. This process, which will also require a partial reorganization, will begin immediately in the new year.

Crowds of German members
The integration of Milcobel members also requires considerable attention, according to Attema. According to current data, approximately 1.500 member companies will be added. FrieslandCampina is also gaining "a great many" new members, in Belgium, northern France, and especially in Germany. The chairman wants to reserve exact numbers for the presentation of the annual report, but according to him, new members are joining every day, two-thirds of whom are from Germany. Sometimes they join individually, sometimes through a supplier cooperative. Incidentally, some of these new members will not start supplying immediately, but often not until 2027. This is due to the notice period elsewhere. The policy is that new German members can join up to approximately 150 kilometers from one of the factories in the Netherlands.

Flushing thinner
Some members may wonder why FrieslandCampina needs to hire a large group of new members now, when there's currently a huge amount of milk available. Why even more? It only dilutes the supply and is unfortunate. Attema argues that FrieslandCampina sees this from a different perspective. The general expectation is that the dairy farming sector throughout Northwest Europe will shrink in the long term. While 2025 may present a slightly different picture, the long-term outlook is different. FrieslandCampina wants to address this, partly because of its interest in maintaining sufficient size to remain a broader player.

Comfortable
Van Karnebeek agrees: "We feel very comfortable with all these new members. If this is an accident, then I'm a happy man."
New members must undergo an admissions test. "They have to be a good fit for the cooperative, and we believe grazing is incredibly important.

Distinguished from intensive
"This sets us apart from intensive livestock farming," says Attema. He understands that it can be a dilemma for farmers, because grazing scores lower for emissions. Moreover, the distinctiveness of pasture milk for consumers has almost disappeared. Yet, it is very important for sustainability in general and for the image of dairy farming.

Nevertheless, grazing isn't a strict requirement, it becomes clear. "For your sustainability challenge, you should have different farm types among your members," Attema and Van Karnebeek believe. This is also taken into account in the updated Foqus Planet Program. It offers farmers a menu of sustainability options. The more sustainable, the higher the reward.