Cremo plans to centralise production in Fribourg by 2030
Thursday 12th November 2026 on 18:15 in
Switzerland
Swiss milk processor Cremo plans to bring all production together at its headquarters in Villars-sur-Glâne by 2030, SRF reported. The restructuring will focus the company on butter and milk fats, milk powder and proteins, and cheese, particularly AOP-certified cheese.
Cremo, Switzerland’s second-largest milk processor, has more than 660 employees and has reported losses of over 75 million francs in the past four years. The company says years of insufficient investment, outdated infrastructure and excess capacity across five locations have left it in a difficult position.
The plan means Cremo will not keep its sites in Siders, in the canton of Valais, or Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud. It is seeking a buyer for the Siders site, where AOP-certified raclette cheese is made. The company says that production cannot simply be moved. Le Mont-sur-Lausanne makes products including milk and cream cartons, which may interest other industrial companies.
CEO Xavier Monange said potential takeovers could help preserve jobs, but job cuts would be unavoidable. At the future sole Cremo site in Villars-sur-Glâne, the company expects to employ about 60 percent of its current workforce. Monange said the other 40 percent work in business areas that will no longer belong to Cremo.
Cremo plans to invest the funds released by the restructuring in modernising, automating and digitising the Villars-sur-Glâne site, as well as in innovation. In the longer term, it aims to increase the volume of milk it processes.
The Valais canton is setting up a taskforce to find solutions for the region’s raclette cheese industry. Gérald Dayer, head of the cantonal agriculture office, called the strategy a turning point for the sector and said Cremo was hugely important to AOP raclette cheese. Under the AOP designation, the source of the raw milk, processing and maturation must all be within a clearly defined region. Dayer said more than 40 million francs in public money had been invested in Valais cheesemaking facilities over the past decade.
Fribourg’s economy director, Didier Castella, welcomed Cremo’s plans to concentrate production in the canton, calling them a strong signal for the future. He said the canton would monitor developments but would not intervene in the affairs of a private company.