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Uelzena publishes 2025 annual report and remains resilient in a volatile dairy market.

Uelzen, 26 June 2026 - Uelzena continues to perform well in a volatile dairy market, prioritising stability and clear investment in the future. Uelzena Group closed 2025 on a stable footing despite a challenging dairy market, achieving solid financial results, record raw material volumes and continued investments in efficiency, sustainability and future competitiveness.

The Uelzena Group has continued to perform well in the 2025 financial year in an extremely strained dairy market. Despite significant price fluctuations for milk fat and continued pressure on the skimmed milk powder market, the company remained commercially stable and made targeted investments in its future.“The current conditions on the dairy market are more challenging than ever and are expected to stay this way for the foreseeable future. This makes it all the more important to ensure stability and consistently develop our cooperative,” says Jörn Dwehus, Chairman of the Board.

Record raw material volume coupled with growing market pressureA volume of 844 million kg in supplied dairy ingredients was recorded in 2025, which included 757 million kg of unprocessed milk, making it the highest value the Uelzena Group has seen in its company’s history. The raw material base therefore performed well. Behind these figures were, in particular, good feed quality, favourable weather conditions, and efficiency improvements in milk production. At the same time, the high availability of raw materials was met with an increasingly challenging market environment. Particularly in the second half of the year, declining prices for milk fat and the continuing strained market situation in the skimmed milk powder segment led to noticeable pressure on processing. Despite the difficult market in the second half of 2025, the average milk payout of 48.67 euro cents per kg raw milk was above the payout in the previous year of 47.34 euro cents per kg.

Robust KPIs and continued investment in the futureThe company’s commercial stability is reflected in the key performance figures: The Uelzena Group achieved revenue of approx. €1.077 billion and generated an annual net profit of about €9.46 million. The equity ratio was above 40 %. At the same time, the raw material supply reached a historic high, while pricing difficulties persisted on the relevant markets.In parallel, the company made targeted investments in strategic areas for the future. These included digitalising production and logistics and increasing the shareholding in BHI Biohealth International GmbH. In addition, establishing a corporate carbon footprint and validating climate targets according to the SBTi standard laid important foundations for a structured climate management system that will remain effective in the long term.“We are consciously investing in efficiency, in sustainability and innovations in our existing business areas, even in difficult market periods. This ensures our long-term competitiveness,” says Dwehus.In the product sector, the company particularly focused on establishing transparent and responsible supply chains and on preparing for rising regulatory requirements. Processes to implement the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains and the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products were further developed and provided with the corresponding data and traceability structures. The company also systematically reviewed its packaging solutions for regulatory conformity and took the first steps towards substituting critical packaging materials.

Employees, efficiency and regional responsibility as stabilising factorsIn 2025, production was marked by energy efficiency, resource conservation and technical optimisation. Existing plants were strategically optimised, including improvements in ventilation, air-conditioning and heating at the Uelzen site. The company also carried out work on the infrastructure at various sites, for example, relating to condensate management, climate control and air drying. These measures opened up additional potential to save energy and CO₂.Digital systems were further upgraded to increase transparency of energy, water and wastewater data and to enable more efficient process management. Further optimisations are planned for the current financial year along with embedding climate protection more deeply in the corporate strategy. The Uelzena Group could also report continuity and development in human resources. There were further measures taken to secure skilled staff and develop qualification, including marketing towards trainees, collaborating with schools and internal development programmes. Turnover remained virtually constant and the average period of employment was 10.8 years.“Our employees are a key stabilising factor. Their dedication and expertise significantly contribute to our continued success even in difficult market periods,” says Dwehus.The close regional ties remain an integral part of the company strategy: 95 % of the supplied milk is produced regionally. Similarly, the majority of services and materials are sourced from the local region. The Group is also involved in events, sponsorship and promotes volunteer work. In terms of compliance, there were no breaches in the reporting year.

You can read more about the company’s development and on the topic of sustainability at Uelzena at www.uelzena.de/en/nachhaltigkeit.

 

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