Finnish dairy company Valio has announced that two of its cooperatives, Osuuskunta ItäMaito and Osuuskunta Maitosuomi, are to merge.

The chairman of the board of each outgoing co-operative signed the merger agreement on Wednesday (29 August) in Helsinki. The final decision on the merger will be made by the cooperatives’ delegate meetings this autumn.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

The new co-operative will be named Osuuskunta Maitosuomi and it will be domiciled in Lapinlahti. 

Valio and the cooperatives concerned suggest the merger will enable the further development of services for dairy farmer entrepreneurs and greater resource efficiency.

Esa Kotala, chairman of the board of Osuuskunta Maitosuomi, said: “The number of dairy farmer entrepreneurs in Finland has been falling by 5-7% each year for some considerable time now, which also cuts the number of members in the milk producer co-operatives.

See Also:

“The merger will enable us to enhance our operations and secure the future of services offered by the cooperative.”

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

The new co-operative will be Valio’s largest single shareholder with 20,849 shares (42.7% of the total 48 861).

Osuuskunta Maitosuomi has a little over 1100 dairy farmer entrepreneur members and Osuuskunta ItäMaito just under 1600. Osuuskunta Maitosuomi’s raw milk volume intake was around 364m litres in 2017 and ItäMaito’s some 519m. 

Together, the co-operatives supply nearly half of the raw milk volume taken in by Valio.