Large merger between Arla and German dairy company planned
The German Molker Obeship DMK Group is striving for a fusion with the Danish-Swedish industry giant Arla Foods. The merger is intended to bring together more than 12,000 dairy farmers and create « the most powerful whey cooperative in Europe », as the two companies announced. The consumer should benefit the consumer, among other things, in the form of promoting high -quality milk production and an improvement in the offer.
From the latest Annual report from Arla It can be seen that the company picks up around 13.7 billion kilograms of raw milk annually, mainly from its cooperative members in Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
There are no exact figures for Luxembourg in the annual report, because the business figures are summarized for the Benelux countries. Arla picked up a total of 790 million kilograms of milk from cooperative members in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg last year. Arla has 721 members in the Benelux countries.
Together, the two cooperatives come to almost 19 billion euros in annual sales and around 28,700 employees. According to an overview of the Dutch Bank Rabobank, Arla was recently the seventh largest dairy company in the world, DMK landed 18th in the list.
Christophe Hansen cannot calm the Luxembourg farmers
Fusion « critically check »
In mid -June, the representative meetings of the two cooperatives are to vote on the intended merger. In addition, the authorities are still required, for which companies hope by the end of 2025. As a merged company, you would then bear the name Arla.
The Federal Association of German Dairy Halves (BDM) appeals to the responsible authorities to critically examine the planned merger. « What is sold here as a unification of common values and strengths is actually a concentration of power that further restricts the competition for raw milk and increases the dependence of the dairy farmers on a few large corporations, » fears BDM chairman Karsten Hansen. « The power of the dairies is further expanded, few large companies can dictate the conditions – to the detriment of the producers. »
