Tine is more than milk and brown cheese. Probably so much more, that it can no longer continue to be as we know it. Tine is Norwegian agricultural and industrial history dating back to the 19th century when 40 farmers started a cooperative dairy in Tolga. It is a well-known and beloved breakfast accompaniment for generations of Norwegians with cartons in the fridge. It is the golden calf in farmers’ cooperatives. Have to think about the profitability It is an echo of the goal of an agriculture in the whole country with all the dairies waiting for the milk truck that drives to the nearest dairy. A lifeblood, a community-funded infrastructure. There are also industrial companies and important workplaces. Although the dairy cooperative is not only an industrial enterprise, it is also that. Although Tine should not or cannot only think about profitability and optimization of production, they must too. The fact that important jobs related to agriculture in a farmer-owned cooperative must also think about centralization and profitability even when the Center Party has the Minister of Agriculture only emphasizes the obvious: The conflicts of goals Tine operates in today no longer arise. This is not the first restructuring of Tine, and it will certainly not be the last. It will only get more difficult – so where is the line drawn? The steps Tine is now announcing are that the dairy operations in Kristiansand and outside Tønsberg will be closed down. In addition, production at Frya and Sola is being changed so that production is focused on certain products in particular. These are relatively small measures taken in areas with an extensive labor market. In District Norway, Tine’s plant will be a major employer and it will be more difficult for employees to find other, relevant jobs nearby. The most difficult moves come when the structure in Northern Norway is up for grabs. When you have to go through new rounds that will affect parts of the districts where Tine is even more important for the labor market and there are fewer alternative workplaces for dismissed employees. Tine is the golden calf in agricultural cooperatives, writes political commentator Lars Nehru Sand. Photo: Lars Petter Kalkenberg / news Today is of course the day to have all possible compassion for employees and their families who are facing an uncertain time. Even in the agricultural organisations, there is an understanding that Tine’s actions – as long as they are not exaggerated and are well-rooted – are a prerequisite for agriculture throughout the country. There will be fewer dairy farmers and there will be less consumption of dairy products. In addition, there will be stronger competition for customers. Both from other producers of milk and cheese, but not least because people can drink something other than milk with a slice of bread. If Tine does not take corporate financial measures to meet this, all of Tine is in danger. It is not in the farmers’ interest either. Dairy competition and the grocery market In any case, Tine has a duty to collect milk from all the country’s dairy farms, no matter how long the route may be. At least twice a week. It is in Tine’s interest to pick up often, because then the milk can arrive quickly in a carton and out to the store with the longest possible shelf life. This politically imposed duty, for which Tine is of course financially compensated, means that Tine must have a dairy and reception scattered around the country. But not necessarily as widely as today. How many plants can be shut down in the next few years without coming into conflict with political expectations remains to be seen. Tine also transports the milk from the dairy to the store. Tine herself would say this contributes to competition in the grocery market in that there is a kind of competition for the distribution link where the grocery chains dominate and thus control an important part of the food chain. Tine’s dairy competitors such as Q meieriene and Synnøve Finden will say that consumers do not necessarily get a better result from the final sum for the dairy products because Tine controls the entire food chain from farm to shop shelf. In any case, Tine’s significant logistics operations are an important part of the business. If Tine were to close down or change how they transport the goods from the dairy to the store, it could affect competition in the market just as much as changes in production. The iconic brown cheese will no longer be produced in Gudbrandsdalen, but Tine is not closing down the facilities at Lom and Skjåk. Found a solution for the brown cheese It seems to have paid off for Tine to go an extra round about the brown cheese. Tine continues the production of traditional brown cheese in Gudbrandsdalen. Much of the G35 cheese you buy in the shop is already produced elsewhere in the country, but the symbolic value of laying it down in the GudbranGudbrandsdalene seems to carry for the dairy giant. Now the solution is that G35 will be produced at Byrkjelo and Storsteinnes, many kilometers away from Gudbrandsdalen. Tine Lom and Skjåk must downsize, but not close, and will produce smaller pot-produced products such as søst, gomme and dravle and a few brown cheese varieties such as Bestemorost, Goitost stølstype and Innherred cream cheese. A full-fledged dairy with Tine’s entire product portfolio, it is not anyway. Because Tine can’t be all over everything anymore.
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Just the beginning – Speech
