Emmi awards milk supply in Switzerland
Rudolf and Barbara Tschui
Emmi annually awards the performance of the best milk suppliers with the Emmi Q-Award in Switzerland. Since January it is linked to a quality payment system endowed with a total of over CHF100,000. (€92,460)
The 2020 quality champion is dairy farmer Rudolf Tschui from Grenchen in the canton of Solothurn. Markus Schär from Heimenhausen BE ranks second, followed by Josef Odermatt-Bannwart from Aesch b/Birmensdorf ZH. All 100 award-winning suppliers also receive an Emmi Q-Award plaque.
“Of course I am very happy about this award. I see the whole interplay up to the desired result as a big puzzle. The result is achieved by means of individual processes. With some you have direct influence, with others it depends on good cooperation and luck,” Tschui says.
In Switzerland, Emmi processes around 950 million kilograms of milk annually from over 6,000 dairy farmers, mainly in central Switzerland and the neighbouring cantons. Around 93% of this natural and regionally produced milk is produced in accordance with the requirements of the Swissmilk Green sustainability standard.
“Continuously producing a natural raw material such as milk at the highest quality level, taking increasing sustainability and animal welfare requirements into account, requires a high level of expertise and involves considerable effort. Accordingly, we would like the performance of our best milk suppliers through a quality bonus of the annual Emmi Q-Award,” says Reto Hübscher, Emmi’s head of purchasing milk direct suppliers.
In addition to milk quality, the sustainable production and processing of milk is also increasingly influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions. In order to take this development into account even better, Emmi, together with its direct supplier organisations and the milk producer organization Mittelland Milch, introduced a new quality payment system in January. This takes into account that the content and quality of a natural raw material such as milk can be subject to fluctuations.
The average of several monthly samples for the germ and cell count counts, so there is more tolerance in the seasonal course. In contrast, the handling of milk contaminated with inhibitors remains strict: an antibiotic-positive milk sample leads not only to liability for damages and a deduction of the milk price but also to exclusion from the evaluation of the Emmi Q-Award for the respective year.
Instead of the previous monthly quality surcharge of half a cent/kilogram milk, those producers that have supplied the best quality milk throughout the year, receive a bonus.
Those who meet all the requirements for all samples will receive a bonus of CHF400 (€370). Any setpoint violation results in penalty points.