Heilbronn, Germany, June 3 - Campina, one of the largest dairy companies in Germany and Europe, wants to invest 10 million euros in the production facility in Cologne in 2008 and 2009. Provided the go-ahead is given by the government, the investment will be primarily aimed at optimising the production of liquid milk and logistics.
Based on the amount of milk processed, Cologne is Campina’s largest production facility in Germany. The location’s wide product range includes daily fresh milk, school milk, quark, cream and yoghurt, all marketed under such well-known brand names as Landliebe, Campina Tuffi or Campina Optiwell. The branch in Cologne processes more than 350 million kilos of milk annually. The milk is supplied by Campina dairy farmers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse and separately processed for the production of different varieties of liquid milk.
Focus on brand products
In the context of this sizeable investment, production in Cologne will be streamlined, with a special focus on brand products such as the national top brand Landliebe and the regional Campina Tuffi brand. "Our strategic focus in Cologne will be on brands", says Michael Feller, Managing Director Germany of Campina’s Consumer Products Europe group. "The production of brands will be restricted to daily fresh milk and quark in the future. The refurbishments and expansion activities will be completed at the end of 2009 and we expect this to lead to a strong improvement in the efficiency of the Cologne production facility."
Owing to the restriction of private label activities, it is expected that 38 jobs will be lost in the coming three years. Norbert Reuss, Director Operations Germany of Consumer Products Europe: "We will do everything we can to prevent compulsory dismissals and together with the works council we will be looking at ways to offset the loss of jobs through early retirement or natural attrition." At present 379 staff work in production and logistics at Campina in Cologne.