As an independent family business with a history that goes back more than 135 years, we think in generations rather than in years. We invest in long-term collaboration in order to make our chains shorter, more efficient and more sustainable. We prefer to build on the future together with strategic partners who pursue the same ambitions. Always with the wishes of the customer as a starting point.
AholdDelhaize
Our collaboration with Ahold Delhaize goes back decades. Since 1983, we have been ripening, cutting, packaging and distributing cheese for Albert Heijn. Together, we continuously work on an optimal cheese assortment of Dutch and European cheeses.
In the years that followed, Delhaize le Lion and Albert CZ also started purchasing our products from Ahold Delhaize. In 2008, we began to develop innovative tapas: tapenades, spreads, dips and various cold and hot tapas snacks with fish, meat and vegetables.
A good example of our partnership is the development of the 'Better for Nature & Farmer' programme that we started in 2017 with Albert Heijn. The aim of this programme is to make dairy and cheese more sustainable under the retailer's own brands through a closed (and therefore transparent) production chain. More than 450 dairy farmers now supply their milk exclusively for dairy and cheese from Albert Heijn!
New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra
Our partnership with the New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra began in 2015 when Royal A-ware started the cheese factory and Fonterra opened an ingredient factory on the same site in Heerenveen.
The whey that is released during cheese production is processed by Fonterra into high-quality whey products, which are sold in their worldwide sales network. From 2020, Fonterra has also processed the whey that is released during the production of our mozzarella cheese. In Heerenveen, in collaboration with Fonterra, we also produce various cream products for patisserie and culinary applications, which they then purchase and sell.
Irish dairy cooperative Tirlán (Glanbia)
In 2019, the partnership with Tirlán, Ireland's largest dairy cooperative, was set up. This partnership includes the joint construction and operation of a sustainable cheese factory in Belview, County Kilkenny, in the south-east of Ireland.
From 2024, we expect to make at least 50,000 tons of Dutch cheeses here, such as Gouda and Edam. On 22 June, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, officiated at a ceremony to mark the commencement of construction of the new cheese factory.
The milk for the cheese factory is supplied by member dairy farmers of Tirlán. Through the collaboration with Royal A-ware, Tirlán gains access to a new market of Dutch cheeses, which fits in with its diversification strategy. As a result of this collaboration, Royal A-ware gains access to additional cheese volumes, which are produced from high-quality milk via a controlled chain. This international collaboration is an example of our ambition to build new chains together with partners in order to be able to offer our customers an increasingly extensive range.