Dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate about home
The Molkerei Berchtesgadener Land dairy was established in 1927. We are organised as a cooperative and belong entirely to the affiliated farmers – some 1,700 in number. Their farms lie along the Alpine ridge between the Watzmann and Zugspitze mountains.
Since our inception, we have been committed to responsible business with respect to cattle, nature and consumers. Our origins are important to us, and we are guided by values such as sustainability and fairness.
Our dairy’s management board and supervisory board contain elected farmer representatives. They decide on all important issues together with the management team. Meetings to review the current market situation and necessary investments are held each month. At both levels, all board members are active dairy farmers.
In the cooperative model, there are credible efforts to pursue issues of origin, sustainability and fairness. People know each other and talk to each other, offering advice and discussing topics.
Our cooperative is fully owned by around 1,700 farmers. Their farms have 27 cows an average. As small businesses, they help to maintain the cultural landscape of the Alpine region.
Our core values include gentle milk processing methods, protecting natural habitats in and around the Alps, and paying fair milk prices to small family businesses.
Total
Mountain farmers
Conventional farmers
Organic farmers
Founding year
Million kg of raw milk
Employees
including fresh service
€ million turnover
including fresh service
First organic dairy in Bavaria
Million kg of raw organic milk
Trainees
Sales countries
It is guaranteed that our farmers do not use genetically engineered feed or glyphosate.
Our farmers abstain from using total herbicides. They manage their farms using natural, sustainable methods. In this way, they are able to preserve a variety of grasses and herbs.
Using modern technology, we save water, packaging and other resources.
Over the last six years, we have managed to reduce fuel consumption for milk collection by 22 per cent. We did so by optimising route planning and changing our fleet to state-of-the-art Mercedes Benz and MAN commercial vehicles.
We are efficient with resources in our work and use environmentally friendly energy.
For example, we use waste heat from our production facilities to heat buildings and tap water. To generate electricity, we have had our own power supply centre built on the dairy farm that delivers combined heat and power.
We support projects to protect insects and healthy soil.
We have given our backing to the "Wild and Cultivated" project to conserve flowering meadows, and we keep two bee colonies on our premises, which we look after ourselves. We have also developed a regional flowering mix to enrich grassland environments in cooperation with the UNESCO Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Reserve.
The good health and well-being of cattle is crucial for our dairy products.
We regularly provide courses for all farmers. These offer tips on animal care, alternative medicine, exercise and feed. Since 2017, we have paid a free range bonus for each kilogram of milk.
We have also been producing organic Alpine milk since 1973, making us Bavaria’s oldest organic dairy.
We support farmers as they make the transition to organic farming. We are continuously increasing the proportion of organic milk produced. With output of around 92 million kilograms of certified organic milk a year, we are one of Germany’s largest organic dairies.
Independent certification agencies check that raw materials from third countries are fairly traded.
We use organic cocoa, raw cane sugar, bananas and mangos. Certification of these materials is checked by GEPA, dwp, Grüner Punkt Naturkost and Biokorntakt.
We were the first dairy and the first German company to receive Naturland Fair certification.
Since 2010, part of the product range has been awarded ‘öko+fair’ certification by farming association Naturland.
We work together with Pidinger Werkstätten GmbH, run by the Berchtesgadener Land branch of Lebenshilfe.
Pidinger Werkstätten provides specialist assistance to people with disabilities. They receive systematic, individual and reflected support to develop skills.
We care about staff development and satisfaction in our dairy.
Our employees are all on permanent contracts. The average length of service is 12 years. With a varied health management strategy, an active idea management system and an intensive junior staff programme, we are one of the most popular employers in the region.
We invite customers to see what goes on behind the scenes and are clear and honest in our reports.
We regularly show groups of visitors around our company on guided tours. Here we explain the origin of our milk and our production methods.
In den vergangenen Jahren wurde die herausragende Qualität unserer Milchspezialitäten mehrfach ausgezeichnet – so auch 2019.
Die Inhaltsstoffe und die transparenten Deklarationen unserer Milchspezialitäten wurden in den vergangenen Jahren mehrfach ausgezeichnet.
Bereits mehrmals hat uns die Stiftung Warentest für die hohe Unternehmensverantwortung und die Qualität unserer Produkte ausgezeichnet.
Unsere Anstrengungen für verantwortungsbewusstes und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften wurden 2018 mit dem Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitspreis in der Kategorie "Mittelgroße Unternehmen" belohnt.
Unsere Milch enthält einen hohen Anteil an gesunden Omega-3-Fettsäuren. Das haben Studien der Uni Kassel (2006) und der Uni Jena (2013) nachgewiesen.
Das Bio-Siegel weist hochwertige Erzeugnisse des ökologischen Landbaus aus. Es garantiert die kontrollierte Erzeugung und Produktion von Bio-Waren entsprechend der EG-Bio-Verordnung.
Kontrollstelle: DE-ÖKO-037
Das Warenzeichen Demeter gewährleistet hochwertige Erzeugnisse aus biologisch dynamischem Landbau. Fernab von Chemie und Monokultur wahren Demeter-Bauern natürliche Kreisläufe. So fördern sie Lebensprozesse und gesunde Böden.
Die klaren und strengen Naturland Richtlinien garantieren Lebensmittel aus ökologischem Anbau. Fütterung mit Bio-Futter und artgerechte Tierhaltung sind ebenso selbstverständlich wie der Verzicht auf chemisch-synthetische Dünge- und Pflanzenschutzmittel sowie treibende Mineraldünger. Gentechnologie ist in jeder Form ausgeschlossen.
Das Naturland Fair-Zeichen garantiert die faire Zusammenarbeit mit Erzeugern, Handelspartnern, Mitarbeitern und Verbrauchern.
Unser durchgängiges Qualitätsmanagementsystem entspricht dem internationalen Lebensmittelstandard IFS.
QM-Milch steht für Qualitätsmanagement Milch. Es wurde 2002 als einheitliches Qualitätsmanagementsystem der deutschen Milcherzeugung entwickelt. Unabhängige Auditoren kontrollieren die Einhaltung von 55 Kriterien auf den Höfen der Landwirte.
Alle unsere Bauern füttern traditionell. Neben unseren Bio-Bauern verpflichten sich seit 2010 auch alle anderen Mitglieder, nachweislich gentechnikfrei zu füttern.
Seit vielen Jahren nehmen wir schrittweise energetische Sanierungen vor, um den Standard der Energieeinsparung auf höchstes Niveau zu bringen. Das bestätigt die ISO 50001 Zertifizierung.
