Our Dutch heritage
We are proud of our history, which dates back to 1871. FrieslandCampina is a large international dairy company with a cooperative history dating back more than 150 years. The company processes milk into a wide range of dairy products and ingredients. The cooperative has 13,972 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany as members.
Our history
Our company dates back to 1871. In those days, there were thousands of farmers in the Netherlands, all operating independently. They delivered the milk from their cows to private factories or used it to make cheese or butter on their own farms. It was hard work for the female farmers, as they took on the largest share of the work. Despite the hard work, farmers’ incomes were low, causing poverty in many farming families. Their situation was quite desperate.
More and more cooperation
In 1872, twenty farmers in the Hollandsche Wieringerwaard region in the province of North Holland decided to join forces. They bought a building, two cheese vats and a scale, and they appointed a cheese maker. That is how the first official collaboration between farmers began. Something similar happened in Warga, a village in the province of Friesland, where a group of farmers united in a cooperative.
Taking control
Collaborations and cooperatives were formed in numerous villages in North Holland and Friesland. Farmers in the rest of the country united in the years that followed. The first cooperative in the province of Limburg was founded in a village called Tungelroy in 1882. Farmers took control, gained power over what happened to their milk and decided for themselves how to run their business. They kept the proceeds of their collaboration for themselves. The cooperative has been a dependable way for farmers to work together ever since. It helped to raise many farmers out of poverty.
Much has changed
This form of cooperation did not only change the lives of farmers in the Netherlands. By investing in a factory together, purchasing equipment and recruiting employees, they were able to take cheese making to a higher level. The process of collaboration triggered major advancements regarding people, ideas and technology. A flourishing time began for hundreds of cooperatives and private businesses. Through mergers and collaborations, most of them have been incorporated into what is now FrieslandCampina.
One of the most modern dairy industries in the world
What began with that first cheese factory and two cheese vats in 1872 has now grown into one of the most modern dairy industries in the world. Even so, the interests of our member dairy farmers still come first in the cooperative. The company's profits are still paid out to the owners of the company: our member dairy farmers.
