Campina optimises processing of North Holland cheese

New storage unit at the new Campina plant in Lutjewinkel. Closure of Alkmaar unit announced.

01/09/05 International dairy company Campina is to invest more than EUR 7 million in the construction of its own modern cheese processing and storage unit for North Holland cheese in Lutjewinkel (the Netherlands). The cheese depot will be directly linked to the cheese production plant now being rebuilt in Lutjewinkel. The existing storage unit in Alkmaar will be closed in the course of 2006 and its activities transferred to the new, larger depot in Lutjewinkel. The increased storage capacity will also create scope for processing activities for North Holland cheese that Campina currently outsources, such as ripening and packaging. With this investment, Campina is taking an important new step to improve its competitiveness, by realising extra added value efficiently. A social plan agreed with trade unions and the Works Council applies for the employees.

Campina is one of the biggest cheese processors in the Netherlands. Through the Campina Holland Cheese division, part of the Cheese and Butter group, Campina processes more than 100,000 tonnes of cheese each year at its processing units in Born, Tilburg and Alkmaar, partly through in-house operations.

The Alkmaar location is relatively small, with a low level of automation. Furthermore, the processing units in Born and Tilburg are directly linked to the production plants. Now that the Lutjewinkel cheese production plant is being rebuilt, after being destroyed by fire last year, Campina has made a new analysis of the best situation for cheese processing in the North Holland region. Construction of a new cheese processing and storage unit in Lutjewinkel is the best choice. The North Holland cheese produced in Lutjewinkel can then be ripened directly in the storage unit linked to the production plant. At present, some of the ripening process is outsourced because of a shortage of capacity in Alkmaar.

‘Our mission is to produce cheese as efficiently as possible. Building the new processing unit in Lutjewinkel is a logical step in our strategy’, says Piet Hilarides, Director of the Cheese and Butter group.

Campina plans to start construction of the storage unit as quickly as possible. The cheese processing unit is expected to become operational in the second half of 2006, after which the Alkmaar location will close. Campina expects to commission the cheese production plant in Lutjewinkel at the end of 2005.