Who are the world’s top 20 milk processors?

It ranks the global processor giants by milk intake volume. Together, these processors collect 200m tons milk equivalent (ME), 25.4% of produced milk worldwide.

Farmers of America tops the list with a milk intake of 28.1m tons ME.

Müller and Arla increased intake by about 1.7-2.0m tons ME, and the German processor DMK moved up in the ranking, through the acquisition of the Dutch DOC Kaas company, adding 1m tons ME to the milk intake.

New entries in the top 20 list are Canada’s Agropur and Schreiber Foods in the US.

Dropping out of the top 20 were Bongrain (France) and Darigold (US).

Power of Asian dairies

Amul, from India, and two Chinese companies, Yili and Mengniu, together accounted for 19.1m tons ME of milk, nearly 10% of the global total.

Turn-over per kg of processed milk ranges between $0.50-2.40 per kg, with Nestlé and Danone ranking highest, and DFA and California Dairies ranked lowest.

The IFCN Top 20 Milk Processor List is released biannually, with validated data and comparable variables.