FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH, former Campina GmbH, is a leading
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
dairy and subsidiary of the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
dairy cooperative
FrieslandCampina
Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. is a Dutch multinational dairy cooperative which is based in Amersfoort, Netherlands. It is the result of a merger between Friesland Foods and Campina on 30 December 2008. The European Commission approved this merger ...
. The company was formed in 1996 after the Stuttgart-based Südmilch AG was renamed.
History
Milchversorgung Heilbronn GmbH (MVH)
MVH was founded in July 1924 in the town of Heilbronn. A follow-on company from the local "dairy department", MVH was owned by the town and a cooperative group of dairy buyers and sellers. In 1933 MVH acquired local dairies in the nearby towns of
Ilsfeld
Ilsfeld is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, on the outer edge of the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. In addition to the village of Ilsfeld proper, it includes the formerly independent settlements of Aue ...
,
Bretzfeld,
Neuenstadt am Kocher
Neuenstadt, usually known as Neuenstadt am Kocher (; and until as late as 1800 also known as Neuenstadt an der großen Linde) is a town in Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany with 9,600 inhabitants. It consists of Neuenstadt, the village ...
and
Mainhardt
Mainhardt is a municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
See also
* Mainhardt Forest
The Mainhardt Forest is a hill range up to {{GeoQuelle, DE, BFN-Karten in the counties of Schwäbisch Hall and Heil ...
. In 1968 a new dairy factory was built in the
Neckargartach area of Heilbronn. At the time it was one of the most modern milk processing plants of its kind. Branch dairies were closed down and merged into the one factory.
Südmilch AG
In 1969, founded by
, MVH entered into an alliance with the interregional dairy ''Interessengemeinschaft Milch (Intermilch)'', Stuttgart-based ''Württ. Milchverwertung Südmilch AG'' (WMV) and ''Dauermilchwerk Hohenlohe-Franken GmbH'' from Künzelsau, to form the largest milk-processing company in Germany. In 1972 MVH merged with WMV to become
Südmilch AG. The company went into receivership in 1993 following a scandal over government subventions and company investments in former
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. This resulted in the chairman going into hiding in South America and a takeover by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
dairy cooperative ''Campina Melkunie''.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Südmilch AG operated from a head office in north Stuttgart directly next to the tram stop ''Milchhof'' (which translates as 'milk yard'). The tram stop still exists to this day but only one of the former buildings still remains.
Campina GmbH
In 1996 the former ''Südmilch AG'' company was renamed ''Campina AG''. There followed a string of mergers with other Campina Melkunie subsidiaries in Germany culminating in the new company ''Campina GmbH'' in 1999. At this point Campina closed down its head office in Stuttgart to centralise all operations in Heilbronn. In 2002 the company was renamed ''Campina GmbH & Co. KG''. In 2000 the former cooperative of ''Milchwerke Köln-Wuppertal'' was merged into the company, along with former factors in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
,
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
,
Essen,
Iserlohn
Iserlohn (; Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.
Geography
Iserlohn is locat ...
and
Lindlar
Lindlar ( ) is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located about 30 km east of Cologne.
Geography
Lindlar is located between latitudes 50°58' and 51°5' N. and longitudes 7°15' and 7°28' E ...
. Other companies, formerly acquired by the mother company in the Netherlands, were merged under Campina in Heilbronn: Emzett, Kutel and Molkerei Strothmann. In September 2007 the company was named Campina GmbH, a German limited liability company.
Key company data
Campina currently employs around 2200 people in Germany. Its works process around 1.4 billion litres of milk p.a. (''
Basis:March 2004'').
Turnover in 2005: €846 million (Campina worldwide: €3.569 billion).
Since 2005, Campina GmbH has been headed by managing director Michael Feller, reporting into the Dutch Campina unit "Consumer Products Europe" (CPE).
Criticism
The company came under fire from environmental campaigners in 2005 for sourcing milk from farmers who also grew
genetically modified maize
Genetically modified maize ( corn) is a genetically modified crop. Specific maize strains have been genetically engineered to express agriculturally-desirable traits, including resistance to pests and to herbicides. Maize strains with both tra ...
. Greenpeace demanded that the company ensures that farmers were not feeding corn to their dairy cows, a move already taken by competitive dairies. Chairman of German watchdog
Foodwatch, renewed the attack on Campina in October 2007.
In October 2008 Campina reacted to public criticism by removing genetically modified ingredients from animal feeds used in the production of milk for its
Landliebe brand. The company plans to start making "GM-Free" yogurts and desserts in April 2009.
''Milch ohne Gentechnik'', German, "Milk without GM Technology"
focus.de, 6 October 2008
Selection of brands
References
General references (German)
* ''Kultur und Wirtschaftschronik Heilbronn'', J. Bühn publishing house, Munich
* Volker Grub: ''Das gerichtliche Vergleichsverfahren der Südmilch-AG'' (''The court receivership of Südmilch AG''), Brugger, Schöngeising 1998,
* Martin Born: ''Landliebe, Filz und Betrug. Die Südmilchpleite''. (''Landliebe, sleaze and corruption. The collapse of Südmilch''), Campus publishing, Frankfurt 1996,
External links
* http://www.campina.de/
* http://www.campina.nl/
* http://www.landliebe.de/
{{DEFAULTSORT:FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH
FrieslandCampina subsidiaries
Companies based in Baden-Württemberg
Companies based in Heilbronn
Dairy products companies of Germany