The Members’ Council of Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. have agreed to the proposed changes to their member recruitment policy and through these changes, the dairy cooperative is opening its doors to new member dairy farms in the cooperative sphere in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
Said Sybren Attema, Chair of Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A.: “We are keen to be and remain an appealing cooperative for our member dairy farmers, and to that end, it is important to have sufficient scale. That will aid continuity, help us to maintain a solid competitive position, ensure optimum utilisation of our production network and thus keep our products and brands widely available on the market. Besides giving existing members ample scope for entrepreneurship, we are now opening our doors to new members too. The Board has been engaged in talks on this with the members, district council members, and business recently. The insights gained now prompted this decision.”
Applying for membership of FrieslandCampina was only possible subject to very strict conditions from the merger between Friesland Foods and Campina at the end of 2008 until now. That will now change. In order to facilitate joining through partnership with an existing member, the criterion pertaining to the duration of the partnership has been reduced from five years to three. In addition, the cooperative will be opening up to new members starting out or currently supplying another buyer. To make joining easier, the joining fee has been reduced from 15.00 to 5.00 euros per 100 kg of milk. A 2.00 euros discount per 100 kg of milk on the joining fee is given to loyal suppliers within the cooperative sphere. Financing options are offered to help with payment of the joining fee. On top of the joining fee, new members, as well as existing members, are required to purchase milk certificates for 8.00 euros per 100 kg.
