By combining the strengths of the two companies, this partnership is poised to become a leader in the North American protein market. Green Meadows Foods will provide high-quality milk/whey raw materials, while Arla Foods will provide its product/process technology and will sell and market all products produced by the partnership.
Green Meadows Foods LLC is a new cheese manufacturing facility with a start-up capacity to process 2.5 million pounds of milk a day. The company has plans to accomplish an expansion capability to five million pounds a day in the near future.
Green Meadows Foods president, Sjerp Ysselstein, said: “We feel this strategic move to partner with Arla Foods will position us well into the future as a leading milk processor in the important I-29 corridor. By combining our state of the art operation with Arla’s process technology and marketing abilities, we’ll achieve our goals to move away from the commodity whey business. In addition, it provides a roadmap to accomplish our capacity expansion plan.”
With this partnership, Arla Foods will solidify its position as a global market leader in whey, and will provide a strong basis for further growth.
“Applying our global whey concepts to the American market and establishing a local partnership will provide significant new opportunities for us,” said senior vice president of Arla Foods, Henrik Andersen. “It is, in many ways, a natural step for Arla Foods, and it’s a step we’ve been working hard for several years to make. The American market is approximately 50% of the global whey protein market, and we’re now entering with a strong partner.”
The intent of the partnership is that Arla will acquire 100% of the whey processing assets in Green Meadows Foods, and Arla will operate this facility as an integral part of its global supply of highly specialised whey products. It’s expected that definitive agreements can be signed during the second quarter of 2009.
Arla Foods is one of the largest dairy companies in Europe and one of the largest cooperative dairies in the world. Arla’s recently announced five-year strategy increased focus on the company’s whey protein business, as well as emphasis on the US market. The partnership with Green Meadows Foods fits well into these overall strategic ambitions.
Source: Arla Foods
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