According to RetailDetail, dairy giant FrieslandCampina saw its sales decline in the first half of 2024, but a significant reorganization led the Dutch company to report a substantial increase in profits.

Lower Volumes

Lower milk prices, negative exchange rate effects, and reduced sales volume drove FrieslandCampina's net revenue down by 6.7% to 6.4 billion euros.

Excluding the currency impact, the revenue drop would have been 2.9%. FrieslandCampina processed 4.7 billion kilograms of milk from its members, marking a 3.2% decrease.

However, the company achieved a significant improvement in operating profit, rising from 47 million to 301 million euros.

Net profit also surged sharply, from 8 million to 183 million euros. For the full year 2023, FrieslandCampina had even reported a net loss of 149 million euros.

Major Restructuring

The profit growth is attributed to an improved product mix, reduced inventories, and a strict focus on cost control under the "Expedition 2030" strategy.

At the beginning of last year, the company closed one of its cheese factories and cut 1,800 jobs as part of a restructuring, with about half of the positions in the Netherlands being affected.

FrieslandCampina aims to further optimize its production processes and expand its milk processing capacity. At the end of last year, the dairy producer announced a significant merger with Belgian company Milcobel.