German milk industry brings 300 new products a year to the market

By Koelnmesse GmbH

  And the international outlook for the future of the sector is optimistic. The companies exhibiting their products at Anuga Dairy in Cologne in October 2011 will include Alpro, Bauer, Belgomilk, Conaprole, Ehrmann, Emmi, Fromi, FrieslandCampina, Frischli, Gloria, Hochwald, Hoogwegt, Luxlait, Morinaga Milk, Deutsches Milchkontor/ Humana, Milchunion Hocheifel, Saputo, Valio and Zott.

The sector get-together of the international dairy industry will take place on Monday, 10th October 2011: Dairy Unlimited 2011 - Opportunities and Benefits!, which will offer participants the opportunity to share ideas with colleagues from the sector and make new contacts.

Here, top decision-makers from the trade and industry will discuss the promising outlook for the sector (start: 5:00 p.m.  in the Rheinsaal, Congress Centre North). The organizer is Koelnmesse GmbH, in cooperation with the German Dairy Association (MIV).

  The German milk industry looks to the future with optimism Since May 2011 the German dairy industry is once again represented among the world leaders in milk processing. Following the merger of the former Nordmilch company and the Münsterland-based Humana Milchunion into Deutsches Milchkontor (DMK), a German company is once again in the same league with the major global players like Nestlé, Danone and Arla.

  With a forecasted annual turnover of about €4 billion, DMK becomes one of the 20 dairy groups with the highest turnover in the world, right from the start, in addition to being one of the top ten companies in the European milk industry. The new milk titan operates 24 locations and employs a workforce of about 5,500 people, making it the dominant player in milk production in northern and western Germany.

  Now the aim is to tackle challenges “with the combined strength” and in the best interests of dairy farmers, says Josef Schwaiger, DMK Board of Management Spokesman. After all, the newly created dairy group is supplied by approximately 11,000 dairy farmers, who are hoping above all for higher prices for their milk.

  Unfazed by this big merger, a major international competitor, the Scandinavian dairy group Arla, wants to further expand its business in Germany. According to Torben Olsen, Managing Director of Arla Germany, the producers of the product Buko are aiming for third place on the dairy market in Germany, after DMK and the Müller Group.

  Following a period of turbulence, the German milk industry is once again looking to the future with optimism. Rising prices, increasing exports and stable economic growth were recorded during 2010.

  “We are expecting the market situation to remain stable in 2011,” forecasts Karl-Heinz Engel, Chairman of the German Dairy Association (MIV).

  Demand growing stronger worldwide Demand for milk products continues to constantly increase worldwide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), worldwide milk production should double by 2050. The current production is slightly over 700 million tonnes.

  While the European markets have largely reached their growth limits, there are now high hopes for business in Asia. The sector is focusing in particular on New Zealand, which was one of the first OECD nations to sign a trade agreement with China.

  Virtually all of the international competitors of the New Zealand dairy company Fonterra would like to share in the developments it has experienced. Fonterra has long been considered the world’s most successful dairy group. One litre of milk costs the equivalent of over €1.30 in grocery stores in New Zealand, for example, a price that the competition can only envy. In Germany, where the discounters ultimately determine the price of milk in the refrigerated section, the consumer pays less than half of what is charged in New Zealand.

  The fierce competition and price pressures are enormous due to the high market shares of trademark brands. Well-known privately owned companies such as Müller, Ehrmann, Bauer, Meggle and Zott have achieved respectable brand positions even in these times of intensive competition. The family-owned companies are holding their own by means of long-term brand strategies and sustainable product concepts. The brothers Florian and Markus Bauer, for instance, are the fifth generation of the family to run their dairy company. They assign great value to their designation as a “private, family-owned dairy”.

  And Christian Ehrmann, CEO of the Ehrmann AG company in Oberschönegg in the Allgäu region, also believes tradition is an important asset. “Von der Familie für die Familie” (From the family for the family) has been the company’s slogan for three generations. In 1920 grandfather Alois founded the dairy as a one-man operation. Today the group, which also owns the cheese company Champignon, produces at six locations with 1,600 employees and exports to 40 countries. Ehrmann meanwhile generates almost half of its total turnover of €650 million outside of Germany. Its Russian subsidiary, for example, has become Russia’s third-largest yoghurt producer. From its Moscow location, Ehrmann delivers long shelf life yoghurts to destinations even as far away as China.

  The globalisation from the Allgäu region seems unstoppable: In March 2011 the family owned group opened its first dairy in the state of Vermont in the USA, which has an annual capacity of 130 million containers of yoghurt.

  Emmi, Switzerland’s biggest milk processing company, which this year is once again enlarging its stand at Anuga Dairy, also is setting its sights on the international markets. Of its annual revenues, most recently about 2.7 billion Swiss francs (€2.2 billion), the group earned about one fourth of the total outside of Switzerland. In the saturated Swiss domestic market, Emmi CEO Urs Riedener is fighting primarily to defend the company’s market shares, which is why Germany is an important key market. Emmi is known in Germany mostly for its innovative products. The chilled coffee drink Caffè Latte has become the Swiss company’s strongest-growing product on the German market.

  The Emmi brand and the Kaltbach cheese speciality products are another focus of the company.

  “Our main target group for Caffè Latte is young, trend-conscious women with an affinity for brand name products,“ says Elisabeth Wagner-Wehrborn, head of Emmi in Germany.

  Emmi took an important step in this direction this year by means of the official partnership with the popular TV program Germany’s next Topmodel, says Wagner-Wehrborn.

  At Anuga Dairy in Cologne all the exhibiting companies will once again show their innovative strengths. According to the MIV, the German dairy industry alone brings out around 300 new products on the market every year, including those with new recipes and packaging innovations.

  Due in particular to the steadily growing number of one-person households, re-sealable packages are playing an increasingly important role in the refrigerated section.

  Here the German cheese industry shows off its great capacity for innovations: Customers can choose from hard cheese, sliced cheese and soft cheese in ever new flavour variants, with an expanding range of different fat contents and in even more consumer-friendly packaging.

  Emmi has also announced its stand will feature “several surprises in the fresh products and cheese segments”. But until then they will be kept secret.

  “We expect that the key partners for the Swiss premium dairy company Emmi will be among the Anuga trade visitors from the German and international trade,” adds Wagner-Wehrborn.

  Anuga will take place from Saturday, 8th October, to Wednesday, 12th October 2011. It is open to trade visitors only.

  More information on Anuga is available at anuga.com.

  Source: Anuga