Milk Matters Newsletter – June 2025

UDC Strengthens Dairy Sector Ties

The recent FHA-Food & Beverage 2025 event, held from April 8–11 at the Singapore Expo, proved to be a pivotal moment for UDC as the company continues to solidify its presence in Southeast Asia’s dynamic dairy market.

With Southeast Asia accounting for over 50% of UDC’s sales, the exhibition offered an invaluable platform to connect with industry leaders, emerging brands, and esteemed partners in the dairy ingredients sector. The event attracted over 65,000 attendees from 109 countries, underscoring its significance as a global hub for the food and beverage industry.

FHA Singapore 2025 showcased a diverse array of dairy innovations, including Whole Milk Powder (WMP), Skim Milk Powder (SMP), Anhydrous Milk Fat (AMF), and functional dairy ingredients. These products play a crucial role in applications ranging from infant formula and bakery items to fortified and functional foods.

The exhibition highlighted the growing demand for dairy-based snacks and health-conscious options, reflecting evolving consumer preferences around the globe. Engaging with such a comprehensive showcase enables UDC to stay at the forefront of industry developments and continue delivering exceptional value to partners and customers in the dairy sector.

As Southeast Asia remains a cornerstone of UDC’s sales strategy, participation in events like FHA Singapore 2025 reinforces the company’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and growth in the dairy industry.

Strengthening Ties with Europe: VanDrie Group

During our recent visit to the VanDrie Group in the Netherlands, we had the opportunity to engage directly with one of Europe’s most respected and vertically integrated agri-businesses. Privately owned and family-led, VanDrie operates a multi-billion-euro network that spans the entire supply chain — from calf rearing and feed production to veal and beef processing, dairy ingredients, skins, and global trade.

What stood out most was the scale and synergy across their operations. With major facilities not only in the Netherlands but also across Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium, VanDrie has successfully combined innovation with traceability, ensuring a high level of quality control across all stages of their production. Their integrated model reflects a clear focus on animal welfare, sustainability, and operational efficiency — all core values that align strongly with our own direction at The Midfield Group.

This visit was not only a valuable benchmarking opportunity, but it also reinforced the importance of cross-border collaboration in delivering premium protein products to global markets. Insights from VanDrie’s feed and farming divisions, in particular, have highlighted new opportunities for us to explore in terms of technology adoption, supply chain integration, and product diversification.

While in the Netherlands, we also had the opportunity to meet with the team at Melkweg, the dairy trading arm of the VanDrie Group. Pictured outside their head office in Apeldoorn, the visit marked an important moment in strengthening our international network and exploring new commercial synergies.

Melkweg is a highly respected name in the global dairy trade, with over 30 years of experience and a reputation built on reliability, market insight, and strong customer relationships. Trading more than 250,000 metric tonnes of dairy products annually, they specialise in milk powders, butter, and whey — making them a key player in both commodity and specialised dairy segments.

With clear parallels in the values and history of both our businesses, the visit opened the door to meaningful collaboration. We are now working closely with Melkweg to explore new customer opportunities across Asia-Pacific and Europe, with a particular focus on complementary product offerings.

As we continue to grow our international footprint, partnerships like this one underscore the strength of aligning with like-minded, family-driven businesses that share our long-term vision and standards of quality.

Opening Milk Prices – 2025/2026 Season

On Wednesday 11 June, we shared our opening weighted average price of $9.00/kg MS, along with a range of $8.80/kg MS to $9.50/kg MS. In sharing a range we have improved transparency, by capturing farm to farm variations, with each existing supplier able to know where they sit relative to the average.

As farmers, we fully appreciate the pain that a lot of suppliers are going through, as we are not immune to the current conditions. Our field services team has been working around the clock to secure fodder, advance loans and assist where we can. Additionally, we have been working behind the scenes lobbying the Government for assistance in this region during these extremely challenging times.

We have chosen to open conservatively due to the volatile conditions in the global markets we are seeing, be it global political issues, tariffs, currency, and the like.

Our entire team is obsessed with getting the maximum value from every drop of milk be it through factory and transport efficiency, product mix, and pricing. We are continuing to invest heavily so we can grow our business and that of our valued milk suppliers.

Our Milk Supply team are here to ensure all suppliers are provided with an income estimation and net milk price – ensuring all suppliers are paid on the maximum model for your farm.

Dairy Australia Situation & Outlook Breakfast

Members of the UDC team recently attended the annual Dairy Australia Situation & Outlook Breakfast. On the eve of a new season, it was a great opportunity to connect with partners from across the industry.

Dairy Australia presented the recent findings from their annual farmer surveys and hosted a panel discussion that included a processor CEO, leading Tasmanian dairy farmer, agri-culture banker, and consumer research expert. While various industry challenges are clear, we left the session excited by the many opportunities to grow dairy farming and processing in Australia.