Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), Novi, Mich. and Foremost Farms USA, Baraboo, Wis., announced today that the two cooperatives have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU incorporates intense focus within the two cooperatives to drive mutual investment to maximize members’ returns on their quality milk.
The MOU formalizes advanced discussions between the two cooperatives to pursue proposed co-investment opportunities which include, but are not limited to, the Middlebury Cheese Company and the recently announced dairy campus in Greenville, Michigan. It also incorporates expanding the current strategic alliance the two cooperatives have had in place since 2014 at the MMPA Constantine plant with the reverse osmosis investment.
“This commitment not only includes investments but also creates a marketing partnership that will mutually benefit both organizations. By working cooperatively, we are utilizing each cooperative’s independent strengths,” says Joe Diglio, MMPA General Manager. “Through collaborative efforts, we can avoid investing in redundant assets and allow us to fully optimize our members’ capital investments.”
“We collectively believe more immediate investment is needed to satisfy the imbalance between milk production and milk solids processing capacity.” says Mike Doyle, President and CEO, Foremost Farms. “With our commitment of the first phase of the dairy campus at Greenville, MI planned to be operational Fall of 2018, we believe this arrangement will help satisfy that need and create value-added processing growth”
“The intent of this MOU is to further address the imbalance in supply and capacity limits we currently are experiencing in this part of the country. This further demonstrates the commitment that both cooperatives have in working together to benefit all dairy producers in our collective milk regions,” added Diglio.
About Foremost Farms, USA:
Foremost Farms USA (www.foremostfarms.com), headquartered in Baraboo, Wisconsin, is a farmer-owned milk processing and marketing cooperative with about 1300 dairy farmer-members and annual sales of $.5 billion. The nation’s eighth largest cooperative and 28th in annual sales among the Top 100 U.S. dairy processors, Foremost Farms focuses on the creation of tailored and innovative milk solutions that meet the needs of customers around the world.
About Michigan Milk Producers Association:
The Michigan MilkProducers Association (MMPA) is a dairy farmer owned cooperative founded in 1916. MMPA serves approximately 1,700 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, handling approximately 5 billion pounds of milk annually. MMPA operates two SQF Level 3 certified manufacturing plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Indiana. Products made at MMPA’s plants include butter, non-fat dry milk, whole milk powder, cream and condensed skim milk. Learn more at www.mimilk.com.
