French cooperative Agrial has taken a minority shareholding in Délicelait, a milk ingredients firm with an annual turnover of EUR40m (US$55.3m).
Agrial will supply Délicelait with 70m litres of milk annually with the aim of increasing this to 120m litres when EU quotas have been abolished. Milk production accounted for roughly 10% of Agrial’s global turnover of around EUR2.2bn in 2010 and the stake in Délicelait is part of a strategy to strengthen its presence in this sector, a spokesperson for the company told just-food.
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The spokesman added that the exact size of the stake would not be disclosed at this stage.
In June this year, Agrial is scheduled to merge its milk production activities with those of Normandy co-op, Elle & Vire. The deal will create a group with an annual output of 900m litres of milk supplied by 3,000 dairy farmers.
