The story of Elsdorf began in 1909, when a dairy farmer established a private company to market dairy products. In the same year, the company was bought by 45 farmers who proceeded to found the dairy farmers’ cooperative Molkereigenossenschaft Elsdorf. The agricultural boom increased milk deliveries, and in 1929 the cooperative needed to build an extension to the building and purchase modern equipment and facilities.
In July 1937, plans were made for a new dairy, and the first milk was processed in the new facilities in August 1939. Most of the dairy was destroyed in World War II, but its reconstruction was accomplished in a very short time. In 1978, a trout hatchery was added to the milk processing facilities of the dairy, but the trout farm had to be abandoned in 1998, when room for new bottling machines was needed.
In 1996, a spray tower was built in Elsdorf that began producing powdered milk varieties and special products for industrial applications in 1997. In order to accommodate the increasing quantities of products and packing materials, the company invested in extensions for the warehouse and cooling facilities in 1992 and 1995, before building a new fully equipped cold store in 1998. With the integration of the dairy Molkerei Rotenburg in 2000, the Elsdorf facility gained the production capacity for making soft ice cream, milkshakes, rice pudding and fruit compotes. Between 2000 and 2005, the company made several investments focussing on expanding and modernizing the bottling capacities. A number of new product concepts were realized in Elsdorf which led to a considerable diversification of the product range. In 2005, the company began the modernization process for the entire milk supply system, so that the Elsdorf facility is currently capable of processing an annual milk supply of 250 million kilograms.
The dairy’s current product range includes, classic curd products, cream cheeses, savoury dips and crèmes (e.g. tzatziki), yogurt products, milk drinks, dry products (e.g. skim milk powder, full-fat milk powder, spray milk powder, non-milk powder and casein), UHT milk products, soft ice cream, milkshake mixes, desserts (compotes, rice pudding) and long-life products (e.g. cream, skim milk concentrate, whey). In addition, the deli sector produces dressings, sauces, salads and fruit and vegetable mixes.
The investments of the last several years were supported by a systematic acquisition of new customers and target markets. Ten years ago, the company focussed on a few major customers, which meant that the revenue depended mostly on them. Today, the customer base is much more diverse, including discount markets, domestic and international classic food retailers, as well as wholesale businesses, catering, the restaurant industry and general export.
In 2006/07, the history of the dairy reached its latest milestone. Following the majority decision to change the legal form of the former cooperative into a public limited company in 2006, the transformation into the new Heideblume Molkerei Elsdorf-Rotenburg AG was realized in early 2007. This step became necessary due to the increasing competition and dramatic structural changes of the milk processing industry, leading to a growing demand for resources, the new organizational structure as a public limited company will create more room to provide both equity and borrowed capital.
