At the representatives’ meeting of Hochwald Milch eG on 27 June 2025, the Hochwald Group presented its members with an overall positive business performance for 2024. Both turnover and milk processing volumes saw a slight increase. Turnover was slightly above the previous year’s level, at over €2 billion. Milk processing volumes rose to approximately 2.3 billion kilograms. The milk payout price matched Germany’s national average.
2024 financial year – solid growth
In the 2024 reporting year, Hochwald generated sales revenues of €2,010.9 million (2023: €1,965.6 million), representing growth of 2.3%. EBITDA increased substantially by €22.9 million to €161.2 million overall. Domestic sales accounted for 59% of turnover, whilst 41% was achieved through export business. The Consumer Products International division performed particularly well, driven primarily by increased export volumes to Arab markets. The payout to milk suppliers of the parent cooperative, including supplementary payment, averaged 48.1 cents per kilogram (2023: 47.5 ct/kg), matching the German national average according to the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) (2024: 48.1 ct/kg, 2023: 45.3 ct/kg). The target of paying a milk price above the national average was therefore not met.
Outlook for 2025 – focus on white line products, fat content and sustainability
The market for dairy products continues to develop positively. According to NielsenIQ research, sales of cream, yoghurt and quark in German food retail increased by several percentage points in 2024 compared to the previous year. “This trend validates our strategic focus on white line products”, underlined Detlef Latka, Managing Director of Hochwald Foods GmbH. “Moving forward, we’ll be focussing on the fat content of milk and are therefore increasing fat premiums to 5.00 cents per unit, whilst protein premiums remain stable at 5.00 cents per unit.” This measure reflects the company’s entry into the butter market. The corporate strategy ‘Prepared for tomorrow’ will continue to be pursued consistently in 2025. The aim is to offer cooperative members a milk price in the upper range of German comparisons, whilst creating additional added value. To this end, Hochwald continues to invest in sites, processes and sustainability projects. A significant milestone in this area was the commitment to validate the company’s climate targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Since February 2025, the near-term targets have been officially validated by the SBTi.
Executive Board and Supervisory Board elections
Following normal rotation and due to retirement, Matthias Bug – who also serves as Chair of the Supervisory Board of Hochwald Foods GmbH – and Helmut Daun are stepping down from the Executive Board. They will be succeeded by Justus Beier and Inse-Marie Stalter, who were elected to the Executive Board by the representatives’ meeting. Jutta Simons-Molitor stepped down from the Supervisory Board following normal rotation and was subsequently re-elected to the body. Steffen Link and Felix Beckmann were newly elected to the Supervisory Board.
| Facts and figures | |||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Total turnover | € million | 2,010.9 | 1,965.6 |
| of which thrid countries | € million | 327.1 | 313.9 |
| Milk supply | kg | 22,248.5 | 2,179.8 |
| Employees | 1.970 | 1,992 | |
| Investments in property, plant and equipment | € million | 137.0 | 142.0 |
| Performance price at 4.0% fat and 3.4% protein, including supplementary payment, excluding VAT | ct/kg | 48.1 | 45.5 |
Contact:
Hochwald Foods GmbH
Kathrin Lorenz
Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 6504 125 129
E-Mail: k.lorenz@hochwald.de
