Dubai, UAE – FrieslandCampina one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world, marked 150 years since its inception. To celebrate this momentous milestone, FrieslandCampina’s anniversary flag was raised at all its production locations across the world on 8th September. 

The United Arab Emirates was the first country within the Middle East in which FrieslandCampina decided to commence its journey in 1955. It started to introduce products within the evaporated milk category, popularly known today by its flagship brand name ‘Rainbow’. Previously, refrigerators did not exist and the Evap package would tolerate high temperatures, which made it an essential product in every household. Currently, the company has a strong presence all over the Gulf countries and North Africa.

Rainbow milk is the main ingredient of Karak tea, which is the most preferred beverage in the GCC and India sub-continent. It’s such a significant ingredient that a vintage can of Rainbow milk is displayed at the Dubai Museum. In addition to the Evap packaging, Rainbow also includes ready-to-drink milk, flavoured milk, powder and cream. FrieslandCampina has also introduced the natural Dutch cheese which is popularly known as Frico in the region.

The brand has witnessed the UAE’s development and progress from 1955 till the present date. To truly mark its 150th anniversary a special regional celebration took place at FrieslandCampina’s regional headquarters located in Dubai. The celebration was attended by H.E. Carel Richter, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dubai, Sumeet Mathur, Managing Director of FrieslandCampina MENA and the staff of the company.

H.E. Richter commented: “It gives me great pleasure to see a home-grown company, that initially started with a small group of farmers, growing over the years and becoming a strong part of the social fabric here in the GCC. I would like to wish everyone that has been part of FrieslandCampina’s great achievements a happy anniversary on this special occasion where we celebrate 150 years of success.”

The Managing Director of FrieslandCampina MENA, expressed his happiness welcoming H.E. Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dubai at the FrieslandCampina office to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the company. Mathur said: “It is a great honour to gather and celebrate 150 years of great success. FrieslandCampina continues to progressively grow, and I am proud to say that the company continues to lead the Evap category within the region. Over the past few years, we have been eager to promote healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle among the younger generation through local and regional partnerships. Our collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Dubai Municipality helped us promote the benefits of dairy through various school awareness campaigns. We remain committed to our customers to deliver the best dairy products through our sustainability and innovation programs that we have taken to produce quality nourishment with the theme ‘From Grass to Glass.’”

FrieslandCampina's cooperative history dates to 1871. In that year, several farmers established the 'Vereeniging tot Ontwikkeling van den Landbouw in Hollands Noorderkwartier'. This association is the oldest known legal predecessor of the Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A.

A year later, in 1872, twenty farmers in the Dutch village of Wieringerwaard, in North Holland, decided to collaborate. They collectively bought a building, two cheese tubs and a weighing scale and they appointed a cheesemaker to establish the first official cooperation of farmers.

In Friesland, something similar happened in the village of Warga: a group of farmers united in a cooperative. After many mergers, these cooperatives finally resulted in FrieslandCampina. Today, the dairy industry is one of the most important industrial sectors in the Netherlands.

Royal FrieslandCampina N.V.

Royal FrieslandCampina daily provides millions of consumers spread all over the world with dairy products containing valuable nutrients from milk. With an annual turnover of 11.1 billion euro, FrieslandCampina is among the largest dairy companies in the world. FrieslandCampina produces and sells consumer products, such as dairy-based beverages, infant nutrition, cheese and desserts, in a large number of European, Asian and African countries through its own subsidiaries. Apart from this, dairy products are globally exported from the Netherlands to more than 100 countries. Products are also supplied to professional customers, including cream and butter products to bakeries and catering businesses. FrieslandCampina sells ingredients and semi-finished products for producers of infant nutrition, the food industry and the pharmaceutical sector all over the world. FrieslandCampina has locations in 38 countries with more than 23,000 employees. De company has its Central Office in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The activities of FrieslandCampina have been divided into four market-oriented business groups, being Food & Beverage, Specialised Nutrition, Trading and Ingredients. The company is fully owned by Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A., which has almost 17,000 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world.

Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A.

Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. is a joint venture of dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The objective of the cooperative is to valorise the milk of its members and so create value in a sustainable way for all its member dairy farmers. This is expressed in the milk price and in the return of the capital that members provide Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. with. Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. is a cooperative with a wide diversity of dairy farms. The cooperative promotes the interests of its members and exercises its voting right with respect to the shares in Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. Its almost 17,000 members (over 11,000-member dairy farms) united in Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. are through the cooperative the owners of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. as well as the suppliers of milk to Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. 

This year, FrieslandCampina celebrates its 150th cooperative anniversary, which really is an extraordinary milestone! The cooperative history of FrieslandCampina goes back to the year 1871.

For additional information, please visit our website www.frieslandcampina.com

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