Molkerei Gropper

Molkerei Gropper GmbH & Co. KG is a company that produces dairy products, direct juices, and smoothies for commercial enterprises or fills them as a contract packager.

Besides its main location in the Bavarian town of Bissingen, there is another site, Gropper Fruchtsaft GmbH & Co. KG, in Stockach. Molkerei Gropper is one of the leading German suppliers of private labels and produces for almost all major European retail companies.

To manufacture its products, the company processes approximately 355 million kilograms of milk annually from 874 milk suppliers into finished products. 80 million kg of this is organic quality milk (as of 2020). The production of ready-to-drink coffee, fruit juices, and desserts accounts for an ever-increasing share of the revenue. 60 percent of the products go to customers in Germany, while 40 percent are exported to other European countries.^[2]

Products from Molkerei Gropper bear the EU Health mark with the code DE BY-77723 EG,^[3] while products from the joint venture between Gropper and Dr. Oetker in Moers have the mark DE NW-303 EG.

In 1929, Heinrich Gropper took over a cheese dairy and inn in Berg near Donauwörth and founded the Gropper dairy there. Every day, 600 liters of milk were processed into butter and cheese. In 1953, Heinrich Gropper Sr., son of the company founder, joined the already significantly grown company. He became the sole managing director in 1960.

In 1973, the company relocated to the nearby town of Bissingen. The dairy acquired there was continuously expanded in the following years, and the development of new products and packaging was driven forward.

In 1987, the company was the first dairy in Germany to introduce a fully automatic filling system for reusable bottles. Up to 60,000 liters of milk were now processed daily. This enabled the dairy to achieve a breakthrough in the milk market as a specialist for the retail trade. In 2007, filling in reusable bottles was discontinued due to a change in market conditions.

In 1993, the family business – now under the management of Heinrich Gropper Jr. – acquired the license to use the "Käfer" brand name from the eponymous Munich delicatessen Käfer. From this point on, Gropper operated nationally.

The expansion of the product range necessitated an expansion of the company in 1996. Gropper decided to build a new facility on the outskirts of Bissingen. This is how the current company headquarters came into being. A year later, Gropper acquired the traditional Munich brand Deller, thereby increasing its sales figures in the Munich area.

In 2003, the management team around Heinrich Gropper Jr. decided to strengthen the Gropper brand, and at the same time, the Deller brand was discontinued.

The following year, the dairy entered into the production of PET bottles. In 2005, a second filling line for PET was installed, and the high-bay warehouse was expanded by 3,600 storage spaces. In 2009, Gropper began producing direct juices (fruit juices). Shortly thereafter, the range was expanded to include desserts. According to a report by the Financial Times Deutschland, the company more than doubled its turnover from 2002 to 2011. The increase in so-called organic food was a particular focus.^[4]

In 2011, the dairy installed two more filling lines and began construction of a new high-bay warehouse.^[5]

At the end of 2012, the dairy commissioned its own gas-fired combined heat and power plant, which was intended to cover 65 percent of the total electricity demand and provide heating. Since the power plant produces heat, cooling, and electricity, it ensures general energy savings and a related reduction in CO₂ emissions.^[6] Since 2014, Gropper has been able to cover 95 percent of its energy needs itself.^[7]

On July 1, 2018, Moers Frischeprodukte GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between Gropper and Dr. August Oetker KG, was launched. Oetker contributed its Onken plant in Moers, acquired in 2004, and Gropper made its contribution in cash, which is intended to be used for the modernization of the plant.^[8]

Molkerei Gropper produces its own private labels or works as a contract packer for branded goods companies. The product range primarily includes milk and milk drinks, yogurt, pudding and other desserts, as well as coffee-milk mixed drinks, direct juices, and smoothies.

Some of the direct juices from the British juice and smoothie manufacturer Innocent are bottled at Gropper in Stockach for the European mainland.^[9]

The company offers support in the conception and implementation of packaging and marketing concepts up to market readiness, since 2014 with an innovation workshop.^[10]

Molkerei Gropper supplies products to Germany and other European countries. The products are manufactured as private labels for various discount stores and retail chains.

In addition, Gropper produces a wide range of products from organic milk. The dairy is authorized to label products with the GQ seal.^[11] Furthermore, since 2018, the dairy has avoided using genetic engineering in all its milk products.^[12]

Since 2017, Molkerei Gropper has been producing animal welfare milk, which is available under the "Für Mehr Tierschutz" (For More Animal Welfare) label of the German Animal Welfare Federation.

The dairy's collection area covers numerous municipalities from Northern Swabia and parts of Upper Bavaria. The company's milk suppliers include 874 agricultural businesses from Marktoberdorf to Nördlingen and from Ulm to Rosenheim.^[13] Among them are also around 130 organically farming businesses that supply the dairy with over 80,000 tons (~800,000 hectoliters) of organic milk annually.^[14]

• Bundesehrenpreis from the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), 2012^[15] to 2020, nine times in a row^[16]
• 2019: Awarded as a "Blühender Betrieb" (Blooming Business) by the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment^[17]

Since 2003, the dairy has been the sponsor and namesake for the Gropper Cup, an annual tennis tournament of the TSV Bissingen.^[18]

• List of largest dairy companies