The deal includes the company’s complete maturing, packaging and production facilities in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. DOC Dairy Partners will also own the brand name Uniekaas.
DOC Dairy Partners is a subsidiary of German dairy cooperative DMK GmbH.
A division of cheeses
Willem Jan Rote, co-owner of Uniekaas with Paul Wilde, told DairyReporter DOC Dairy Partners will take over production of only the Uniekaas brand of cheeses.
Some cheeses produced by Uniekaas are not part of the transaction.
These include Parrano (Italian-style cheese), Tjiezi (dairy snacks for children), Melkbus crafted farmstead cheese, vintage Goudas, the Hollandse line of cheeses, and Coach Farm (goat cheeses in New York state), as well as other brands, in North America, Europe and Asia.
Because the Uniekaas name has been bought by DOC Dairy Partners, the Uniekaas company will be renamed Best Cheese Global.
Uniekaas already owns Best Cheese Corporation and Best Cheese USA, and Rote said it made sense for the divisions to come under a similar name. The Dutch business will now be called Best Cheese Holland. All will fall under the umbrella of Best Cheese Global.
Specialty cheese
Rote said the sale is part of its strategic initiative to re-focus on Uniekaas’ core competency of selecting and providing its customers and consumers with Dutch cheeses.
“We have kept the brands for all the world,” Rote said.
“We're becoming more of a specialty cheese company.”
Besides the Dutch market, Best Cheese Holland will focus on international markets, especially the US and Southeast Asia.
Rote and Wilde said the brands being retained are showing healthy growth and offer plenty of opportunities. They said there will be further investment in growth.
Best Cheese US CEO, Steve Millard, said the sale will better allow the company to enhance its presence in the US and Canadian marketplaces.
Q3 completion
The transaction has been submitted to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.
Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.