NETHERLANDS – Jan Loonen, one of the main driving forces behind the 1989 merger of Campina and Melkunie Holland, has said that the take-over could have been managed better.

Loonen, a retired chairman of the co-operative’s supervisory board and a full-time dairy farmer, said that the company had failed to exploit commercial possibilities quickly enough. However, he was certain that Campina would not make the same mistake in Germany. He said: “For Campina members, including the German ones, everything we do in Germany must be to our benefit.”

Mr Loonen is also confident that Campina’s expansion will continue, although he believes that other European countries will also be involved. Expansion across the Atlantic is already on the cards for Campina with a possible collaboration with the largest dairy co-operative in the USA, Dairy Farmers of America.

Germany, however, remains the largest market for Campina with sales there in 2000 representing 37.5% of the group’s total turnover. The Netherlands contributed just over 30% of total sales while the remaining EU countries provided 18.5%. Sales in the USA during the same period represented 3.75% of the world total.