Müller has acquired family-owned UK dairy company Yew Tree Dairy for an undisclosed fee.
In a statement, the dairy major said it would use Yew Tree’s milk powder to grow its export business and “drive supply-chain resilience”.
Established in 1904, Yew Tree Dairy, based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, produces fresh milk and cream. However, following “significant investment in recent years”, the business now also produces milk powder.
Müller plans to “significantly invest in the capacity and capabilities of the Skelmersdale milk drying site”, once the deal is completed.
The business will “enhance its milk drying capability, enabling it to become a major producer and exporter of powdered milk products made in Britain”.
Rob Hutchison, CEO at the group’s UK dairy subsidiary Müller Milk & Ingredients, said the investment “underlines our ambition to grow Müller and build a better future for the sector”.
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He added: “Yew Tree Dairy has excellent processing capabilities, a talented team with great expertise, and strong relationships with its customers and supplying farms. When combined with our well-invested and resilient network, I am very confident that these two family-owned businesses will complement each other really well.
“This acquisition will enable us to tap into global dairy consumption growth, unlock additional export opportunities and continue to drive supply chain resilience.”
Müller UK & Ireland is wholly owned by Germany-based Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. In the UK, Müller manufactures and markets branded and private-label dairy products made with milk from 1,300 farmers in Britain, alongside a designated plant-based range.
Carl Woodcock, director at Yew Tree Dairy, said: “The family felt the time was right to explore new opportunities whilst retaining our farming roots.
“After meeting with the Müller family, we feel confident that this is the right decision for the business to be part of a larger organisation for the next phase of growth that will benefit our staff, farmers, and customers in the longer term.”
The deal is subject to the approval of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.
Last November, Müller decided to sell its UK milk delivery business Milk & More to local dairy group Freshways.
