DMK Ice Cream Division Carveout to Strengthen International Business

The division will be able to develop better as an autonomous company. From the point of view of the Group, we expect a promising future opportunity to create value from milk-based raw materials.

Jan 4 2012 --- DMK will be selling its ice cream independently: with the carveout of the ice cream division as the newly formed DMK Eis GmbH (a move already announced in the summer of 2011), Germany's largest dairy company DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH (DMK) is taking an important strategic step to further expand and strengthen its position as an ice cream manufacturer on the international competitive scene.

The new DMK Eis GmbH will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the dairy group, backed by the security of a strong corporate presence. At the same time, this new formation enables total concentration on the expansion of the international ice cream business. "The division will be able to develop better as an autonomous company. From the point of view of the Group, we expect a promising future opportunity to create value from milk-based raw materials," says Rolf Janschen, managing director Sales at DMK and from now on also managing director of DMK Eis GmbH.

Frédéric Dervieux, former Executive Vice President of DMK's ice cream division and responsible in future as a managing director for operations at DMK Eis GmbH, sums up the advantages of the carveout: "The market is clearly innovation-driven. It is our aspiration to constantly reinvent ice cream. In addition to innovative ideas, this calls for a high level of flexibility and also fast decision making processes, which will be facilitated by the new business structure."

The focus of the future strategy is, accordingly, on the development of tailor-made premium ice cream innovations and intelligent marketing concepts for partners from the retailing, licence and co-branding businesses.