Müller is a German company producing a variety of

dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...

, with headquarters in

Fischach Fischach is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

in the German state of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Aside from its German home market, Müller is also active on various markets around Europe and beyond. It is, for example, one of the best selling yogurt brands in the United Kingdom. The company achieved a turnover of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5.7 billion in 2019 and has more than 27,500 employees.

History

The Müller company was founded in 1896 in Aretsried, Bavaria. In 1971, the founder's grandson Theo Müller took over as the sole owner. Through a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

with PepsiCo's Quaker Foods division, Müller entered the market in the United States in August 2012. The company's plant in the United States opened in Batavia, New York, in June 2013, and was the distribution hub for the United States. However, the company announced in December 2015 that it would close the plant. The plant reopened in July 2017, under new ownership by ''Alpina Foods'', but closed down again in January 2019.

Operations

The Müller group is one of the largest dairy groups in the world, with an estimated turnover in the dairy sector of around €3.3 billion (2013). In total, the group generates annual sales of around €5.7 billion (2019) and employs around 27,500 people worldwide (2019).

Dairy brands

The group includes a number of companies operating under the Müller name, including the original Molkerei Alois Müller GmbH & Co. KG and Müller Dairy (U.K.). It is best known for its range of

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

s, including the trademark 'Müller Corner', and fresh milk based drinks. The group includes subsidiaries with independent brands such as Müller, Müller Wiseman, Müller Quaker Dairy, Weihenstephan, Sachsenmilch and Käserei Loose. Private labels and basic dairy products such as

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

UHT milk Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT), ultra-heat treatment, or ultra-pasteurization is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food by heating it above – the temperature required to kill bacterial endospores – for 2 to ...

, lactose powder and

whey protein Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production. The proteins consist of α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, serum albumin and immunoglobulins. Glycomacropeptide also ma ...

complete the portfolio. In addition to the companies operating under the Müller name, the group wholly or partly owns the Molkerei Weihenstephan, Sachsenmilch and Käserei Loose dairy companies in Germany, the Mlékárna Pragolaktos dairy in the Czech Republic, and Müller Milk & Ingredients in the United Kingdom.

Convenience foods

Since 2011, the group has also included ''HK Food'', which is one of Germany's leading manufacturers of convenience foods. Its product range includes chilled delicatessen salads, sauces and fish specialities from the ''Homann'', ''Nadler'', ''Livio'' and other brands of the Homann Group. The branch business from

Nordsee NORDSEE is a German fast-food restaurant chain specialising in seafood. In addition to selling raw and smoked seafood, the company also sells a wide variety of meals and products prepared from seafood such as Fischbrötchen (fish sandwiches ...

was part of HK Food until October 2018.

Production sites

In Germany, beside the group headquarters in Fischach which also houses the Molkerei Alois Müller production plant, the group also operates significant production sites in

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...

(Molkerei Weihenstephan), Leppersdorf (Sachsenmilch and Käserei Loose),

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as "D ...

(Müller Dairy (U.K.), and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(Mlékárna Pragolaktos). The group had twenty five production sites worldwide by February 2017.

Sales offices and exports

The company has sales offices in Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Hong Kong. Müller also exports fresh dairy products of the Müller brand to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates.

Support services

In addition to the milk processing subsidiaries, a number of ancillary marketing and transport companies are also owned. The group includes the packaging company Optipack, the company owned logistics company

Culina Group Culina Group Limited is a British food and drinks logistics company based in Market Drayton, Shropshire. It owns a number of other brands, including Eddie Stobart Group, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Müller Group. History The company was ...

and Müller Naturfarm.

Product ranges

Müller produces a substantial number of popular yogurt brands, including Müllerlight, Müllerice, Yogz and Müller Corner. * Muller FrütUp (German: ''Froop'') is a vanilla yogurt topped with fruit mousse. *Müller Corner (German: ''Joghurt mit der Ecke'', lit. ''Yogurt with the Corner''), launched in the 1980s, is a range of

s. There are three main varieties: ''Fruit'', ''Healthy Balance'' and ''Crunch!''. Within each of these divisions, a number of flavours are produced, for instance Fruit Corners are available in Blackberry & Raspberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach & Apricot, Raspberry and Strawberry flavours. The name "corner" is in reference to the design of the product. In many of the varieties, the yogurt is plain and unflavoured. It comes with an attached portion of 'flavour', fruit compote for example, to add to the plain yogurt. *Müller Rice (German: ''Müller Milchreis''), launched in 1980, is a creamy

rice pudding Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and raisins. Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener such ...

based snack usually containing an additional flavoured sauce, such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

, raspberry or caramel. Müller Rice is sold in a plastic pot, and can be eaten cold or heated in a

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...

. It is marketed as being a healthy, filling and energy providing snack. Only available in Germany until 1989, it was introduced to the United Kingdom and is now widely available *Müllerlight is a brand of

low fat Diet food (or dietetic food) refers to any food or beverage whose recipe is altered to reduce fat, carbohydrates, and/or sugar in order to make it part of a weight loss program or diet. Such foods are usually intended to assist in weight loss or ...

. Popular flavours include strawberry,

toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee ...

and apricot. Müller Light contains

gelatine Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...

to enable the product to gel, but as a result, the yogurt is not suitable for

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

s; Müller reports that they are looking for a vegetarian alternative to gelatine. *Müller Little Stars are aimed at young children and marketed as being made of very few ingredients and being 100% natural. *Müller Vitality is a range of

probiotic Probiotics are live microorganisms promoted with claims that they provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut microbiota. Probiotics are considered generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria- host ...

yogurts and yogurt drinks. *Müller Amore is a luxury yogurt range containing Greek honey. *Milk & More

milkman Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk. This service typically delivers milk in bottles or cartons directly to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cow ...

household delivery of Müller Milk & Ingredients products including Müller Milk, Frijj, Black and White and Fresh 'n' Lo.

Marketing and advertising

In December 2004, Müller released a new set of adverts using the song by Nina Simone, " Ain't Got No, I Got Life", although it focussed only on the "I Got Life" half of the song. In 2008, they introduced a new advert featuring their factory based in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, and emphasising the closeness of supply from the surrounding area of its factory in

; "24 hours from farm to yogurt". Müller would eventually be ridiculed for using " Ain't Got No, I Got Life" in a parody of their 2008 commercial which edited the advert together with footage of the Birmingham campaign, 1963 race riots in Birmingham, Alabama, and this time using the "Ain't Got No" half of the tune. In October 2011, Müller launched a new slogan, "Wünderful Stuff". This was backed by a new advertising campaign involving people being turned into various cartoon characters, which first aired on 8 October on ITV1, during that night's edition of ''The X Factor (UK), The X Factor''. Müller was the main shirt sponsor for English Association football, football club Aston Villa as part of a two-year deal from 1993 until 1995, during which time they won the Football League Cup. The sponsorship ended when the club accepted a sponsorship offer from AST Research. The American singer Nicole Scherzinger has appeared in Müller adverts.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller Companies based in Bavaria Multinational companies headquartered in Germany Multinational food companies Multinational dairy companies Dairy products companies of Germany German brands Yogurt companies de:Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller#Molkerei Alois Müller GmbH & Co. KG