Bad Schwalbach/Thalfang, 9 June, 2016. SCHWÄLBCHEN MOLKEREI AG and HOCHWALD Foods GmbH will be working together in the future in the areas of long-life milk production and raw milk sales. Schwälbchen CEO Günter Berz-List and Hochwald Managing Director Detlef Latka signed a letter of intent in Thalfang towards the long-term cooperation.

It is intended that SCHWÄLBCHEN will transfer all production of long-life milk to its new partner from the Rhineland-Palatinate. “The agreement envisages that HOCHWALT takes on production of long-life milk by 1 January, 2017. "The legal independence of our company remains unaffected”, said Berz-List. In Hesse, the Rhineland-Palatinate and northern Baden-Wuerttemberg, SCHWALBCHEN focuses on marketing of its high-quality milk and fresh products in the 'Green Line' and coffee drink Caffreddo.

HOCHWALD, the second largest German dairy cooperative, is better suited to complete production of shelf-durable products for SCHWÄLBCHEN with its production capacities. At its eight dairy locations, the company has production capacities for fresh and shelf-stable milk products, sold under brand names such as Bärenmarke, Elinas or Hochwald. Additionally, in the field of commodities, both companies will work together in the future. This means that approx. 20 million kg SCHWÄLBCHEN milk will be delivered to Hessian Hochwald locations. For Schwälbchen milk producers, this means that there will be no changes. As before, the small and medium-sized private dairy remain responsible for milk costing and production consulting.

“The cooperation between our two companies offers several advantages, so that the joint optimization of production and logistics makes absolute sense”, said Detlef Latka. “The potential of shorter distances is something we intend to benefit from in the future,” said Berz-List.