Ten European firms are included in Rabobank’s top 20 global dairy companies – but no Irish enterprises made the cut.

The top three companies were unchanged in the rankings from last year, with Lactallis of France, Nestle (Switzerland) and Dairy Farmers of America (US) remaining in place.

The rankings are based on turnover. Lactallis has a turnover of €35.5bn, Nestle has a turnover of €21bn and Dairy Farmers of America has a turnover of €20.4bn.

ADVERTISEMENT

The merger of Arla Foods and DMK Group, which created Europe’s largest dairy co-operative, resulted in the Danish-led processor moving up the rankings from sixth to fourth.

This bounced the French food giant Danone out to fifth, and pushed Chinese firm Yilli out of the top five.

The remaining companies in the top 10 were Dutch operation Friesland-Campina; Saputo of Canada; Mengniu of China; and the Kiwi giant Fonterra, which had a turnover last year of €10bn.

The spots from 11 to 20 were taken up by Magnum (Netherlands); Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (India); Savencia (France); Muller (Luxembourg); Schreiber Foods (US); Sodiaal (France); Froneri (UK); Agropur (Canada); Emmi (Switzerland); and Grupo Lala (Mexico).

New phase

“The global dairy industry is entering a new phase defined by consolidation, specialisation and a greater focus on value creation,” explained Lucas Fuess, senior dairy analyst at RaboResearch.

Among the major transactions over the last 12 months were the aforementioned merger between Arla Foods and DMK Group, as well as Friesland-Campina’s merger with Milcobel.

“Companies increasingly view scale as a prerequisite for long-term competitiveness,” Fuess maintained.

“In the coming years, we expect to see fewer but larger dairy companies controlling a greater share of global milk production,” he said.

“Those that successfully combine size with innovation, differentiation and value-added product offerings are likely to be best positioned for long-term success,” Fuess contended.