Dairy leaders could merge

GERMANY – The country’s largest milk processor, Nordmilch, plans to form a closer alliance with the second largest, Humana Milchunion, according to a statement from Nordmilch last week.

The two companies already work together to manufacture and market ice cream and whey, and there remains the possibility of a merger between them.

Should that happen, the resulting company would handle an annual 7.5 million tonnes of milk, 26% of the total German output.

However, Nordmilch’s managing director Stephan Tomat has played down this possibility, saying that “more cooperation” did not necessarily mean a merger.

Tomat recently said strategic alliances by German dairies would be necessary for future survival.