FrieslandCampina

FrieslandCampina

Type	Cooperative
Industry	Food
Founded	FrieslandCampina: Dec 2008
Headquarters	Amersfoort, Netherlands
Key people	Cees ’t Hart, CEO/Chairman of the Executive Board
Products	Dairy
Revenue	€8.2 billion (2009)[1]
Employees	approx. 22,000
Website	FrieslandCampina.com

FrieslandCampina is a Dutch dairy cooperative. It is the result of a merger between Royal Friesland Foods and Campina. Main brands include Friesche Vlag, Chocomel, Fristi, Dutch Lady, Appelsientje, Milner, Campina, Landliebe, Optiwell and Mona.

History

Royal FrieslandCampina is organized as a cooperative, with roots going back to 1879. It has grown through mergers and takeovers.

In late 1997 four Dutch dairy cooperatives merged to form Friesland Coberco Dairy Food. In June 2004 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands granted FCDF the Royal status. FCDF renamed itself Royal Friesland Foods.

Campina was created in 1989 by the merger of two regional dairy cooperatives, Melkunie Holland and DMV Campina. After this merger the company was named Campina Melkunie until it dropped the Melkunie part of the name in 2001.

In 2004 Campina and Arla, a Danish dairy cooperative, announced plans for a merger,^[2] however this plan was disbanded in April 2005 for undisclosed reasons^[3] although plans for other forms of cooperation are still said to be considered.

On 19 December 2007 Campina and Friesland Foods announced that the companies were exploring the possibility of a merger. The EU approved the merger of the two cooperatives provided that they sold off certain cheese and dairy drink divisions.^[4]

Longevity Brand - Sữa Ông Thọ

In Vietnam, the U.S. and Canada the company is well-known for its canned condensed milk product, Sữa Ông Thọ (Longevity Brand condensed milk), popularly used in Vietnamese iced coffee with milk (Cà phê sữa đá) drinks, and in various other Vietnamese desserts. Sữa Ông Thọ was mass produced in the Saigon-Biên Hòa area and widely consumed in the Republic of Vietnam, produced by Friesland Foods prior 1975. It was used in coffee, mixed with hot water to produce hot milk for babies and young children to drink (since fresh milk had to be imported and were thus expensive), dipped with French bread (Bánh mì) or in other dessert applications. After the 1975 Fall of Saigon, the factories manufacturing Sữa Ông Thọ, along with all other commercial and private properties were collectivized by the communists, and the facilities came under the state company Vinamilk, who continued to produce Sữa Ông Thọ condensed milk under the same name and used domestically and elsewhere in Indochina. Friesland Foods continued production of Sữa Ông Thọ - Longevity Brand after 1975 in the U.S. and Canada for the North American market, especially catering to Overseas Vietnamese consumers, and increasingly to Western consumers as the popularity of Vietnamese coffee and cuisine in general, increases. In North America, Longevity Brand - Sữa Ông Thọ is widely available in Asian supermarkets, and increasingly in conventional supermarkets.

Brandnames

In Greece the company is known through the NOYNOY brand.^[5]

In Nigeria the company is known through the PEAK MILK brand.

Brands with health benefit claims:

• Campina Optimel (Netherlands)
• Campina Optiwell (Germany)
• Campina Vifit (Germany and Netherlands)
• Campina Fruttis (Russia)
• Campina Betagen (Thailand) - joint venture with Thai Advanced Food^[6]

Acquisitions (Campina)

• Comelco NV in (Belgium) 1989
• Deltown Specialities in (United States) 1989
• Menken consumptiemelk activiteiten (Netherlands) 1997
• Menken Dairy Food (Netherlands) 1997
• Menken Polderland (Netherlands) 1997
• Parmalat Thailand (Thailand) 2003
• Inovatech Argentina (Argentina) 2005
• Alaska Milk Corporation (Philippines) 2012^[7]

In Germany, now Campina GmbH

• Südmilch AG, 1993
• Kutel, 1998
• Emzett, 1999
• Strothmann

References