Our motto and aspiration is “Making the Best of Milk“. In order to live up to this claim, more than 70 members of staff are active in our Group’s in-house development department, engaging in the development of innovative, modern and consumer oriented products.
Innovations such as the Müller corners, Froop or Müllermilch Coffee started as ideas, underwent experimental processing, testing and refinement phases and finally entered high volume production. Naturally, we are also working on the further development of existing formulas and recipes in a consistent, ongoing manner.
Optimized materials properties and energy efficiency are the key factors in the development of packaging.
In order to live up to our aspirations in a sustained, long-term manner, we are also involved in research. In this context, the following three pillars play a decisive role:
1. Endowed chair
As we are well aware of how essential the direct contact to university facilities is for our research and development department, we have also committed financial means to these ends.
Donating a sum of around EUR 4 million, Theo Müller enabled the founding of the new chair “Biofunctionality of Foods“ at the Technical University of Munich in the year 2003. Since this time, the action and effects of foods are being researched at the Weihenstephan location, such as the positive effects of dairy products on the gastro-intestinal, the cardio-vascular and the muscular-skeletal system, as well as on weight management.
“It is an exciting challenge to combine the possibilities that milk has to offer with our technical competence and the potential of our strong brands.“
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(Head of Research and Development)
2. Contract research
Our in-house research and development department is constantly working on new approaches for dairy products – with a strong emphasis on healthy milk products. In order to stay abreast of the very latest developments and findings, our researchers and developers are cooperating with clinics, universities and private research institutions.
3. Participation in general research projects
We are not only engaged in our own research work, but are actively contributing our know-how to joint research projects involving the Association of the German Dairy Industry, the Society for the Promotion of the Food and Drink Industries (Förderkreis der Ernährungsindustrie) and the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations. In this context, most projects are addressing production and process technologies.
“More protein” project
A project currently being carried out by the Chair of Physiology at the TU München to increase the protein content of milk is of major significance. Fundamental, applicable strategies to sustainably increase the protein content of milk are being scientifically explored for the first time.
Based on the three key factors of feeding, breeding and herd management, the researchers are analyzing how animal health, and therefore also their lifespan, can be enhanced by examining the optimal metabolism of dairy cattle. In addition to greater milk yield, a positive spin-off is an increase in protein content, and therefore also the nutritional value of the milk.
A total of six dairy farmers, with herds ranging from 40 to 1,300 animals in size, who supply the dairies of the Müller Group are actively participating in this research project to which Müller Group specialists are also contributing their know-how.
As this scientific approach can help farmers to optimize their revenues long-term, several hundred have already expressed strong interest in the results. The project is financed by the Free State of Bavaria in the form of a grant from the special funds of the dairy industry in Bavaria and research funding from the Müller Group of €70,000 a year. The total duration of the project is five years.
Drawing on own new developments, technological progress and independent research, the engagement and the financial strength of the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller are making a major contribution in identifying and advancing general sector topics, as well as the respective implementation issues.
