FDBusiness.com

DMK Group, Germany’s largest dairy co-operative, intends to streamline the production network in its ice cream business unit. This involves selling its Waldfeucht-Haaren production site in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Schwarz Produktion, which incorporates the production companies of the Schwarz Group (Lidl and Kaufland), will take over this site for its own ice cream production, subject to an antitrust review. A corresponding purchase agreement was signed by both parties on January 28th, 2020.

Schwarz Produktion will completely take over the Waldfeucht-Haaren site, including its approximately 200 employees. The transfer is planned for the beginning of 2021. Information about the purchase price will not be disclosed.

“We are continuing to build the DMK of the future. Germany’s biggest dairy co-operative, with brands such as Milram, Humana, Uniekaas and Alete, and one of the biggest suppliers to the German food retail industry, should continue to develop into a strongly market- and consumer-oriented company. And to position ourselves for this in the best possible way, one thing we need to do is to further optimise our own production network,” explains Ingo Müller, chief executive of the DMK Group.

With this in mind, the DMK Group plans to focus its ice cream production on the Everswinkel and Prenzlau sites. DMK wants to increase production capacity at the existing site in Everswinkel from the current level of 65 million litres of ice cream to around 100 million litres in the future. “The sale of the Waldfeucht-Haaren site is enabling us to concentrate our ice cream production in two locations. That creates further synergies,” adds Ingo Müller.

With total revenues of €5.6 billion, DMK Group is one of Europe’s leading dairy companies. The group employs 7,700 people across more than 20 locations in Germany, the Netherlands and other international hubs. The product portfolio ranges from cheese, dairy products and ingredients to baby food, ice cream and health products.