Müller to Review UK Food Service Delivery Operation
A food service delivery operation supplying fresh milk and other products to 3,000 non-residential customers in England and Wales which is suffering losses of around £5 million per annum, is to be reviewed by Müller Milk & Ingredients. The company has confirmed a 45 day review and consultation, placing 250 roles at risk of redundancy. It wants to use the time to assess whether existing food service customers, which include workplaces, restaurants, pubs, bakeries and contract caterers, can be better serviced in other ways by Müller or by alternative providers.
The household and educational business managed by sister company, Milk & More is not affected by the review and consultation. Müller is fully committed to its strategy to build all aspects of this business.
Andrew McInnes, Managing Director at Müller Milk & Ingredients, says: “Whilst the Müller Milk & Ingredients food service operation is a very small part of our overall business, it is vital that it is profitable and viable. It is clearly unsustainable in its current format. We would therefore like to take this time to assess the role and fit of this part of our business within our wider strategy for the future, and determine whether there are better and more sustainable ways to supply the needs of our smaller food service customers.”
Müller has stressed that it will work to fully evaluate and understand the most appropriate course of action for its employees, customers and the food service business. The outcome of the review will not be determined until this work is completed.
The company is committing unprecedented levels of investment to secure a sustainable and vibrant future for Britain’s biggest fresh milk and ingredients business.
Müller Milk & Ingredient’s strategy has three focuses:– improving the capability and profitability of its existing business; continuing to develop products which add new value to the categories and markets it serves; and evaluating and entering new, growing channels and markets for its products.
The food service delivery operation was acquired two years ago as part of the Dairy Crest dairies business, and represents less than 2% of the company’s turnover.
Müller UK & Ireland is wholly owned by the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller which employs 27,500 people throughout Europe. In the UK, Müller develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of branded and private label dairy products made with milk from more than 1,700 British farmers. The Müller brand is ranked at No.7 in The Grocer’s Top 100 list of Britain’s Biggest Brands, and is also the 7th most chosen brand in the UK, picked from shelves more than 208 million times each year.
