Holland dairy launches US$2M cold storage

ETHIOPIA – Holland Dairy, a Dutch-Ethiopian joint venture, has launched a new US$2 million cold-storage facility and wastewater treatment plant in Bishoftu, Addis Ababa.

The newly commissioned cold storage facility, capable of holding over 400,000 cups of yoghurt, is designed to stabilise supply in a market frequently disrupted by religious fasting seasons and fluctuating consumer demand.

Orthodox Christian fasting periods, which can span over 200 days a year in Ethiopia, often lead to sharp, temporary declines in dairy consumption—posing acute logistical and operational challenges for producers.

“The yoghurt market in Ethiopia is seasonal, so during fasting months we need to store products,” said Robin Veenstra, Chief Executive of Holland Dairy. “It took three months and two weeks to build this facility. It will allow us to manage production more efficiently and respond better to fluctuating demand.”

The commissioning of a modern cold storage facility represents a rare example of private sector-led investment in a country where public spending on agricultural infrastructure has often fallen short of needs.

In a sector dominated by informal actors and characterized by fragile linkages between producers and processors, Holland Dairy’s investment is seen as a test case for scaling up formal dairy production in Ethiopia.

In tandem with the storage upgrade, Holland Dairy also inaugurated a US$2 million wastewater treatment plant with a daily processing capacity of 120,000 litres.

The facility, constructed in line with Dutch environmental standards, will treat effluent from the dairy’s processing unit, enabling reuse in nearby agricultural plots or safe discharge into local waterways.

The launch event in Bishoftu drew local officials and diplomatic representatives, including the Mayor of Bishoftu and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ethiopia—an indication of the Dutch government’s ongoing interest in promoting agribusiness linkages between the two countries.

“This investment is not just about yoghurt or wastewater,” one government official present at the launch noted. “It’s about setting a benchmark for what inclusive, sustainable agribusiness can look like in Ethiopia.”

Founded in 2009 and relaunched under new Dutch ownership in 2015, Holland Dairy has emerged as one of Ethiopia’s few vertically integrated dairy processors.

The company works with more than 4,000 smallholder farmers in Oromia region, offering both a market for raw milk and access to improved inputs and veterinary services.

Yet the challenges in the sector remain formidable. Ethiopia has one of the lowest per capita milk consumption rates in Africa, and its dairy value chain suffers from structural inefficiencies,

among them, inadequate cold chain infrastructure, high transportation costs, and weak regulatory enforcement. Milk spoilage rates remain high, particularly in rural areas where access to refrigeration is scarce.

Holland Dairy’s recent product innovations, such as the introduction of banana-flavoured yoghurt made from domestically sourced fruit, reflect a growing appetite for differentiation in Ethiopia’s urban food markets, especially among the country’s expanding middle class.

The company currently offers a range of products including plain, mango, and strawberry-flavoured yoghurts, with plans to expand into cheese and long-life milk.

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