Organic mainstay in Allgaü
Organic products are steadily on the rise in Germany and consumers are increasingly relying on regional and sustainable organic products for their purchase.
This is good for the smaller dairy companies like Allgäu Milch Käse eG, which is looking for new organic milk suppliers, including conversion companies. From its humble beginnings with 20 organic milk suppliers and 1.3 million kg per year to now 400 organic milk suppliers and 113 million kg/year, organic milk has become an important mainstay of Allgäu Milch Käse. It started modestly in 1989, when10-12kg farm cheese was developed and sold to organic wholesalers. Today Allgäu Milch Käse has a wide range of sales channels. The range of organic cheeses ranges from mild and nutty to floral and malty. Various types of butter, such as sweet cream butter, sour cream butter, quark and hay milk are also produced in organic quality.
All products are available in different product sizes (e.g. butter from 125g to 25kg blocks) and through the use of microbial rennet, all Allgäu Milch Käse products are suitable for a vegetarian diet. Organic products are also sold for export. The main customers here are from Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
For Allgäu Milch Käse it was always important to have a holistic view and in 2003 “Kimratshofen organic guidelines” were introduced. Among other things, these oblige the organic farmers to go to pasture and prescribe the use of certain feed. This is checked by an external consultant, among others. Allgäu Milch Käse believes it is also exemplary when it comes to protecting the environment and resources. The use of filtration systems (osmosis systems) reduced the dairy’s water consumption by 40% and in 2010, a separate combined heat and power plant with 1,280 KW output (680 KW thermal, 600 KW electricity) was built. This generates approximately 45% of the electricity and heating requirements. After further optimisation in 2015, the overall efficiency of the combined heat and power plant now is over 90%.
In 2011, the entire roof area of the dairy’s plant in Kimratshofen was equipped with a photovoltaic system, which gives a total output of 800 kWp. Furthermore in 2017 the roof area of the new warehouse for quark and butter was equipped with a photovoltaic system, which gives a total output of 350 kWp. The usual summer electricity peak is thereby cut and the proportion of self-generated electricity increases to 48%. Allgäu Milch Käse eG introduced the “EMAS” (Eco Management and Audit Scheme) environmental management system back in 2015 and is subject to an annual audit.