Fifteen years of FAIRMËLLECH - a project that was born from a crisis and is now one of the mainstays of the dairy market in Luxembourg. The official founding was in February but the celebrations extend over the whole year: “We don’t want to limit ourselves to one event because we intend to fully enjoy the success of the past years with our members, partners and customers”, says Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz, President and Director of FAIRMËLLECH, as we look back on the brand’s journey to date.

Things kicked off at this year’s “Bauerenhaff an der Stad” (Farm in the City) event in Luxembourg City where the stand received many visitors over three days. The next big event is the Ettelbruck Agricultural Fair, where participants and friends of FAIRMËLLECH will come together on Saturday, 4 July, to share a birthday cake. The celebration will conclude in November with the Expogast trade show. Numerous local events are planned in the intervening period, where products can be sampled and purchased.

At the General Assembly on 30 March 2026, the Board, together with the members, looked back on the developments over the years. The faces in the room glowed with pride – and rightly so. Over the years, they have achieved more than they could have ever imagined at the outset. It clearly demonstrates what opportunities emerge when people join forces in solidarity and trust. In the beginning, things didn’t look too bright for the project, even though it has now matured into an established brand. “As dairy farmers, we had our backs against the wall during the 2009 milk crisis. Low milk prices did not cover high production costs. There was massive uncertainty, and it devolved increasingly into an existential threat. At this juncture, some colleagues decided to give up milk production and to restructure their farms. It was clear that something needed to change and some were already toying with a possible solution. However, we did not have the know-how nor the right partners to implement this idea. Furthermore, retailers were of the opinion that we did not need yet another milk brand”, explains Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz. 

The real turning point was the fact that an increasing number of potential customers indicated that they would want to buy products that truly guarantee better prices for farmers. This gave the founders the courage to create FAIRMËLLECH, and the goal was to ensure a cost-covering milk price for the members. When it came to implementing the idea, the cooperative received support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture as well as long-standing business partners BGL BNP Paribas and Luxlait. Even today, Luxlait takes care of part of the packaging and logistics.

True to the famous quote from George Bernard Shaw “We want a few mad people now. See where the sane ones have landed us!”, 48 founding members took the plunge and decided to leave behind the standard system and usual practices on the milk market. “In the beginning, many laughed at us and predicted a quick demise. Of course, this only egged us on. It was clear to us that failing was not an option. Creating FAIRMËLLECH was the only leverage that we had as milk producers to put ourselves in the driver’s seat and have direct influence on our income”, says Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz. 

The cooperative first made it to the shelves of a big Luxembourgish supermarket chain with FAIRMËLLECH UHT milk. In addition to the many hours on their respective dairy farmers, members had to take on additional challenges. At that time, distribution, negotiation, marketing and advertising were unknown territory for many farmers and they had to learn on the job. They had to get out of their comfort zone – something that not only helped FAIRMËLLECH grow, but also pushed the members involved to learn more about themselves. What started as learning by doing is now lived experience and stands out as a unique selling point. “As a brand by dairy farmers for dairy farmers, we had to present differently, and this was new for decision-makers in retail as well. As farmers, it is still difficult for us to accept that supermarkets that put a litre of milk on their shelves in the morning and sell it the same day sometimes have higher margins than the price we were paid producing that litre of milk”, continues Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz. Today, FAIRMËLLECH products are in almost all supermarkets in the country and relations with the retail partners are better than ever. Close relations are valued and nurtured.

A larger presence in stores needed a wider range of products and this became possible with the creation of the Thiry dairy in Schouweiler. Claude Thiry, himself a founding member of FAIRMËLLECH, and his sons were looking for an opportunity for future-proof development of their dairy farm. The goal was to increase income so that all family members could work on the farm and live off those earnings. A close cooperation between the Thiry dairy and FAIRMËLLECH led to a win-win situation. “We work very closely together and support each other in different ways. This has allowed us to expand our product range over the years and now alongside fresh milk, we also sell fresh chocolate milk (with fair trade cacao), yoghurt, pudding and ice-cream”, explains Pole Thiry, who alongside her responsibilities at the dairy is also part of the FAIRMËLLECH Board. Thanks to this larger offering, it was also possible to attract new consumer groups like child daycare facilities, restaurants and farm shops. During the Covid crisis, the farm shops did good business, which reflected favourably on FAIRMËLLECH’s sales.

“2021 was our best year yet, and that was even though we could hardly do any outreach. People were travelling less and were taking a closer look at their consumption. The first question was whether the food supply can be secured in the long term. During this period, there was no bargaining with supermarkets – everyone was simply happy to have something on their shelves”, says Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz. The subsequent years were marked by higher market volatility due to geopolitical developments as well as livestock diseases like blue tongue. “It is currently more difficult to make predictions and conclude long-term contracts due to market fluctuations. It is nonetheless encouraging that in recent years, the farm-gate milk price has often been higher than production costs, which has led to a degree of financial relief. FAIRKOPERATIV has therefore consciously decided to take a step towards our customers and implement rather moderate price adjustments as compared to market trends. We want to extend the fairness approach to both sides”, says Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz.

A portion of the profits from product sales was also invested in a social project in Burkina Faso. Together with LuxDev and the Belgian colleagues from FAIREBEL, a dairy that will allow local milk producers to receive a cost-covering milk price is to be established.

Recent years were yet another reminder that dairy farmers will have to learn to deal with peaks and troughs – this is something that will continue to affect the sector. Organisations like FAIRKOPERATIV make it possible for producers to develop a strong voice before retailers and, at the same time, raise awareness among consumers. Despite the significant potential, challenges remain. One of them is the time constraints of farm managers due to structural changes and increasing labour shortages in agriculture. Early on, many farmers took on voluntary roles in the organisation, and this is becoming less common today due to a lack of time. Another central concern is generational renewal as well as the general lack of young people in agriculture. “We are doing well at the moment, but we will have to seriously grapple with this in the future. Our goal is to create structures that would make things easier for younger people, to integrate them and make them active stakeholders. At the same time, we also want to give young people more opportunities to be co-creators”, explains Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz.

Finally, she also underlines that FAIRMËLLECH remains open to new members. While the profits would be divided over more members, we would be able to strengthen our position and presence and explore new avenues. The current requirements for membership are participating in the energy and nutrient calculation as well as a willingness to contribute about twelve hours per year in outreach.

Jacques Bernard, published on 16 April 2026 in the Alcovit newspaper 

In Switzerland, 2025 was marked by mobilisation for a fair milk price. Coming together under the fair.ch platform, numerous labels wanted to raise awareness about the crisis currently affecting milk production and to advocate for better prices for producers.

Fair Milk sales in the Säuliamt region (Affoltern district) remain strong, despite being slightly lower than last year. Alongside “Nidelzältli” cream caramels, the cooperative also started selling ice-cream last summer in June.