Freshways-Medina merger to complete by July
© Tim Scrivener The merger between dairy processors Freshways and Medina is set to be complete by July, 12 months after the plan was announced.
The combination of Nijjar Group Holdings Ltd (Freshways) and Medina Holdings Ltd was cleared in March by the Competition and Markets Authority, which said it did not believe the proposal would result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the UK.
The joint operation will process more than 450m litres of milk a year through sites at Acton, west London, and Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. A third site will be created in Southampton with the reopening of the Watson’s dairy facility.
See also: Aligned milk contracts: The pros and cons for dairy farmers
The current joint legal entity is Nijjar Dairies Ltd, which will become Medina Freshways Ltd.
The trading name will remain Freshways, without any physical changes to product labels or branding.
All the producers previously under Freshways and Medina have been informed and contracts have been transferred for the vast majority to a Freshways agreement, which took effect from 1 May, according to managing director Bali Nijjar.
Medina had about 20 producers and all bar one have signed a Freshways contract, he said.
Medina’s Barking, east London, depot has closed, with staff and routes moved to an existing Freshways site.
The final milk price announcement for Medina was a 2p/litre rise to 39.8p/litre for its liquid standard litre for May, up from 37.8p/litre in April.
At the beginning of May, Freshways announced a guaranteed 44p/litre farmgate milk price for July and said it hoped to be in a position to pay its suppliers 45p/litre.
Mr Nijjar said: “We expect final bank approvals and new facilities in the next few weeks and should have everything merged by the end of June 2022.
“We believe this will allow the combined business to move forward and deliver a sustainable dairy business for the shareholders, farmers, employees and all our customers.”