GERMANY – The planned merger between Humana Milchunion and Nordmilch has fallen through.

Both co-operatives stressed that the plan had been put to one side for the moment to allow them to concentrate on their own projects, which include consolidation at Humana and restructuring at Nordmilch which could lead to 3,329 job losses – 40% of the company’s workforce.

A joint statement said that “the prospect of a future strategic alliance has not been lost sight of”.