July 23, 2015

FrieslandCampina takes over mozzarella maker Fabrelac

Dutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina announced Wednesday it has acquired Belgium-based mozzarella maker Fabrelac, thus expanding its cheese portfolio.

Bas van den Berg, executive director of FrieslandCampina Cheese, Butter and Milkpowder, said that with the acquisition, "we will be expanding our production capacity by adding a modern and efficient production facility close to our cooperative base".

FrieslandCampina also enters the fast-growing mozzarella market with the takeover of Fabrelac, enabling "us to offer our customers a wide range of mozzarella products in addition to our existing cheese portfolio", he added.

With annual revenue of 11.3 billion euro (US$12.4 billion), FrieslandCampina is one of the world's five largest dairy companies. Earlier this year, FrieslandCampina established a joint venture with China Huishan Dairy Holdings Company Limited after receiving anti-trust clearance. The joint venture operates in China under the name Friesland Huishan Dairy. 

Fabrelac, on the other hand, was established in Bree, Belgium, in 1993. In 2012, it expanded its production facility from 6,500 to 30,000 square meters. A year later, it launched a fully automated production system. Today its maximum annual production capacity is 30 million kilogrammes of mozzarella. In addition to mozzarella for use as pizza topping, amongst other things, the company also makes salad cheese, whey ingredients and cream.