Dairiconcepts acquires U.S cheese business

DairiConcepts, L.P., a joint venture between Fonterra and Dairy Farmers of America, has acquired the US hard Italian cheese business of Swiss Valley Farms (SVF).



The business, previously owned by SVF’s wholly owned affiliate Rochester Cheese, produces private label fresh grated hard Italian cheeses and private label dry hard grated Italian cheeses for retail, foodservice and industrial customers.



The acquisition includes Rochester’s plant at Dalbo, Minnesota. Ownership of a second plant at Spring Valley, Minnesota will remain with Rochester and hard Italian cheese production there will be moved to Dalbo.



Fonterra Managing Director, Global Ingredients and Foodservices Andrei Mikhalevsky said the acquisition would cement DairiConcepts’ position as the number two player in the US hard Italian cheese market.



“It will also bring a more diverse product and customer mix, with scale in fresh products. It will provide a number of strategic benefits and synergies for DairiConcepts, and therefore for Fonterra and its shareholders. And it gives us a clear position in one of the fastest-growing and most attractive cheese categories in the US market,” Mr Mikhalevsky said.


“The acquisition of Rochester Cheese’s sales and marketing platform fits nicely with our current hard Italian cheese strategy, providing resources we will need to support the future of this growing category of our business,” said Neil Stockman, DairiConcepts Vice President of Hard Italian Cheese.

DairiConcepts specialises in cost-effective, high quality cheese and dairy powders, cheese concentrates, functional dairy replacement systems and hard Italian cheeses.


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About Fonterra
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.

The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.