Mayor Dr Hans-Peter Schick and Hochwald CEO Detlef Latka are extremely satisfied with the outcome
5 July 2018 Gemünd/Obergartzem/Thalfang – Getting everything wrapped up: This Thursday, representatives from the town of Mechernich and the Hochwald Foods GmbH cooperative from Thalfang met in the Wilhelm Scheuvens notary office in Gemünd to sign contracts for the purchase of land at Industrial Estate III in Obergartzem, where Hochwald is set to build a new production site for long-life dairy products.
Mayor Dr Hans-Peter Schick and municipal economic development officer Peter Dierichsweiler signed the papers at the Werner Scheuvens notary office in Gemünd on behalf of the town of Mechernich. The Hochwald company was represented by Managing Director Detlef Latka (Chief Executive Officer) and Thorsten Oberschmidt (Chief Operating Officer), along with Peter Manderfeld, Chair of the Board at Hochwald Milch eG, and Matthias Bug, Chair of the Supervisory Board at Hochwald Foods GmbH. Also present from the town of Mechernich were First Alderman Thomas Hambach and Treasurer Ralf Claßen.
“Hochwald’s establishment in Obergartzem is crucial to our economic structure,” says Mayor Dr Hans-Peter Schick, following the meeting at the Wilhelm Scheuvens notary office in Gemünd. “Following on from the successful location of small and medium-sized enterprises in the local area over recent years, we have now succeeded in convincing a large company of the commercial benefits of Motorway 1 access. Many smaller businesses in upstream and downstream sectors – including those based in our town – will benefit from the company’s location.”
Hochwald CEO Detlef Latka is also delighted, “Mechernich is the ideal location for Hochwald’s ambitious project. We are building a modern, highly efficient eco-friendly dairy and have analysed our production network, milk collection area and our sales channels. Construction is expected to take two and a half years, after which we will start production in Obergartzem.”
In future, 800 million litres of milk will be processed annually into high-quality dairy products by over 250 employees on the 21.5-hectare site at Industrial Estate III in Obergartzem. The unpasteurized milk that will be processed in the new facility stems from members of the cooperative. Approximately 1,250 farmers of the total 3,000 supplier members have their farms within the catchment area of the new site. As Thorsten Oberschmidt recently explained to the Mechernich Council, the decisive factors for choosing the town included direct access to the motorway, proximity to large urban areas and favourable production conditions.
With the Hochwald 2020 strategy, the company is continuing its development to become an international market-orientated leader in the dairy product industry. That Hochwald can deliver on projects similar to the one in Obergartzem is demonstrated by its plant in Hünfeld, in the Hesse region of Germany. After only two years of construction, a new site was opened there in 2016 for the production of primary ingredients for the baby and children’s food industry.
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Representatives of Hochwald and the town of Mechernich complete the land purchase agreement at the notary office of Wilhelm Scheuvens (right): (from left) Thorsten Oberschmidt, Peter Dierichsweiler, Detlef Latka, Peter Manderfeld, Matthias Bug, Dr Hans-Peter Schick, Ralf Claßen and Thomas Hambach. Photo: Kirsten Röder/pp/Agentur ProfiPress
