Farmers Co-operative Dairy Limited and Agropur Cooperative Sign Merger Deal
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
A new deal has been reached which will merge two dairy cooperatives. The Farmers Co-operative Dairy (Farmers) and Agropur Cooperative (Agropur) announced on Monday that they have signed a merger agreement.
"Farmers Dairy has always been a leader in the Atlantic Dairy industry and this merger is the next step in the evolution of that continued leadership. The new Agropur Cooperative allows us to continue to produce and process our milk locally while benefiting from the advantages of being part of a larger national cooperative," stated Jeannie van Dyk, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Farmers and a dairy producer in Noel Shore, Nova Scotia.
The merger will allow dairy producers to market their milk through a cooperative. Agropur was founded in 1938 and is a one of the key players in the North American dairy industry and owns a number of notable brands including: Natrel, Québon, OKA, Farmers, Central Dairies, Sealtest, Island Farms, Agropur Grand Cheddar and iögo.