IUF affiliated NNF, Food Workers' Union of Denmark hosted a meeting with IUF affiliated NGG Germany on December 21, 2011 to discuss their joint strategies on organising Arla dairy company.
The dairy division secretary of NNF, Poul Erik Faarkrog invited dairy division secretaries of NGG, Michael Bergstreser and Peter Störling to share information about the future plans of company particularly to grow in Germany. Arla dairy company is aiming at becoming the 5th biggest dairy producer in Germany in 2012 and to become the 3rd biggest in 2015. Such a target means that the company plans to purchase or merge with German companies. The company can also chose to make joint venture agreements at a large scale. The company already merged with German Hansa-Milch and bought Allgäuland. They also agreed about a joint venture production of whey proteins and started a working group for production of processed milk powder with DMK (Deutsches Milchkontor).
Poul Erik of NNF presented Arla's vision on "creating the best dairy company for +250 million consumers in Northern Europe/UK", and how Arla sees its development in the German market. The vision reveals that Arla aims at being No. 1 in UK, Sweden, Denmark and No. 2 in Finland and Netherlands.
NGG brought along a mapping of Arla companies in Germany, and a good discussion and exchange of views took place. The two unions will keep updating each other and the dairy division of IUF on new developments of Arla as it's one of the companies on IUF's Dairy Division target list. Both of the unions are active members of IUF Dairy division Leadership Group and after the mandate of dairy division's meeting in Hamilton, unions are accelerating their cooperation and activities on dairy companies work.