Nestlé and Emmi unite

Related tags Milk Dairy product

Nestlé may be
the world's biggest food company but this does not mean that it is
not averse to teaming up with smaller local players to give it a
helping hand with production or distribution of its brands.

And this is exactly what the Swiss group has done in its home market, teaming up with cheese maker Emmi​ in a deal designed to maximise the synergies between the two firms' production and logistics facilities.

Under the terms of the deal, Nestlé Switzerland's fresh dairy products - in particular the butter, fromage frais and yoghurt sold under the Nestlé Hirz brand - will now be produced by Emmi, which will also handle the distribution of the brands.

All 90 employees at Nestlé's production facility in Hirzel (Zurich) will be retained by Emmi, and the Emmenthal specialist will also offer milk delivery contracts to the 200 milk producers affiliated to the plant.

The development, marketing and sales of Emmi and Nestlé brands will continue to be handled by the individual companies, although they are both said to be considering "other opportunities to solidify their product alliance"​.

This could, for example, include the extension of the partnership to other dairy products owned by Nestlé in Switzerland, such as Petit Suisse fromage frais and LC1 functional yoghurts.

As part of the deal, Nestlé Switzerland has taken a 4 per cent stake in Emmi, although neither company said how much this had cost.

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