Müller (company)

Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller

Industry	Food
Headquarters	Fischach, Bavaria, Germany
Key people	Theo Müller (owner) Ronald Kers (CEO) Volkhard Otto Mett (Chairman)
Products	Dairy
Revenue	€6.5 billion (2015)
Number of employees	27,000
Subsidiaries	Müller Milk & Ingredients
Website	www.muellergroup.com

Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller (often called Müllermilch or simply Müller) is a multinational producer of dairy products, with a headquarters in Fischach in the German state of Bavaria. Müller has a turnover of €5 billion. Since 2013, the American singer Nicole Scherzinger has appeared in Müller adverts, it is one of the UK's best selling yogurt brands^[1] and has 21,000 employees.^[2]

History

In 1971, Theo Müller took over the Müller company that was founded in 1896 by his grandfather in Aretsried, Bavaria.^[2] Theo Müller is the sole owner, and as of 2015, Ronald Kers is the new CEO, replacing Heiner Kamps, who retired in 2015.^[1]

Structure

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 yogurts, including the trademark 'Müller Corner' and 'fresh milk based drinks'

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 (Molkerei Weihenstephan), Leppersdorf (Sachsenmilch and Käserei Loose), Market Drayton (Müller Dairy (U.K.)), and Prague (Mlékárna Pragolaktos).

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 and Ingedients in the UK.^[3] A number of ancillary marketing and transport companies are also owned.

Through a joint venture with PepsiCo's Quaker Foods division, Müller entered the U.S. market in 2012. The company's U.S. plant opened in Batavia, New York, in 2013 and was the distribution hub for the United States.^[4] However, the company announced in December 2015 that it would close the plant.^[5]

Products

Müller produces a substantial number of popular yogurt brands, including Müllerlight, Müllerice, Yogz and Müller Corner.

Muller FrütUp (German: "Froop") is a vanilla yogurt with a fruit mousse on top. The most popular flavors include lemon, raspberry, and peach passion fruit, which is also shown on their commercial. Each year they have an exotic "fruit of the year" flavor.

• Müller Corner (German: Joghurt mit der Ecke, lit. Yogurt with the Corner), launched in the 1980s, is a range of yogurts.^[6] 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.
• Müllerice (German: Müller Milchreis), launched in 1980, is a creamy rice pudding based snack usually containing an additional flavoured sauce, such as apple, raspberry or caramel. Müllerice is sold in a plastic pot, and can be eaten cold or heated in a microwave oven. It is marketed as being a healthy, filling and energy providing snack. Only available in Germany until 1989, it was introduced to the UK and is now widely available
• Müllerlight is a brand of low fat yogurt.^[7] Popular flavours include strawberry, toffee and apricot. Müller Light contains gelatine to enable the product to gel, but as a result the yogurt is not suitable for vegetarians; Müller reports that they are looking for a vegetarian alternative to gelatine.^[8]
• 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 yogurts and yogurt drinks.
• Müller Amore is a luxury yogurt range containing Greek honey.
• Wiseman Müller Wiseman Dairies products including Black and White and Fresh 'n' Lo

Advertising

In 2006, Müller launched a television advertising campaign in the UK. Featuring "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" by Nina Simone, it focused on people dancing and smiling whilst eating Müller yogurts. In 2007 Müller introduced new TV advertisements with the slogan "lick the lid of life". In 2008 Müller released a new advert featuring their Shropshire-based factory, still using the Nina Simone song, and emphasising the closeness of supply from the surrounding area of its factory in Market Drayton; "24 hours from farm to yogurt".

In 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.

Müller was the main shirt sponsor for English 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.

Since 2013, the American singer Nicole Scherzinger has appeared in Müller adverts.

References

External links

• Official website (German)