Mila

HISTORY

From then…
The history of present-day Mila dates back to 1962. Representatives of ten alpine dairies from the Venosta Valley met at 2:00 pm on March 17th, 1962 at the Hotel Sponding – in front of a notary named Dr. Peter von Ehrenstein – in order to establish the VSV or United Dairies of Val Venosta. The VSV had two goals: First, to transform the existing “Val Venosta Pasteurisation Centre” in Bolzano, which was owned at the time by the Parcines and Rabla` Dairies, into a company which would produce fresh milk for them. Second, they planned to construct a processing plant for themselves in Spondigna.

...until now
By October 28th, 1963, there were already thirty associated businesses present at the VSV general assembly, which was convened at the Hotel Stefaner in Dodiciville, in Bolzano. Johann Laimer and Rudolf Zadra – the Chairman and Director of the United Dairies of Val Venosta, respectively – moved to rename the cooperative since the member businesses all came from different areas of South Tyrol, and they felt that the name should not be linked to a particular part of the region. The group made a nearly unanimous decision: 28 out of 30 members voted in support. Members came up with the name Mila by combining the initial letters of the words milch (German for milk) and latte. This name has been associated with a success story through to the present day.

Time Line

1962: Ten dairies from the Venosta Valley establish the United Dairies of Val Venosta, or VSV.
1963: The VSV grows to 30 member companies, and the United Dairies of Val Venosta becomes The South Tyrol Dairies. At an informal meeting at Sleazy Louis’s Inn in Bolzano, the name Mila (milch = Mi, latte = la) is born. From that moment on, Mila South Tyrol Dairy Ltd. is the consortium’s name.
1974: Construction work begins at the new Mila plant on the left bank of the Isarco River in Campiglio, near Bolzano.
1976: Interruption of production at the Bolzano and Venosta Valley dairy plants.
1977: Production of fresh milk, fresh cream, butter and quark begins in Bolzano, on via Campiglio 13A (today Via Innsbruck 43). Mila bottles yoghurt for the first time under its own brand name.
2007: Mila Yogurt turns 30 years old. Today, the Bolzano plant produces yoghurt, fresh milk, fresh cream, UHT milk and butter.

Bruneck Dairy

From then…
Brunico (Bruneck) farmers founded a cooperative on April 20th, 1949, and called it Bruneck Dairy Ltd. The area from which its milk was garnered extends across the Pusteria Valley from S. Sigismondo (St. Sigmund) to Villabassa (Niederdorf) and its neighbouring valleys: Val Gardena (Gadertal), Valle di Tures (Tauferer Tal), Valle Aurina (Ahrntal), Valle Anterselva (Antholzer Tal), Val Casies (Gsieser Tal), and Valle di Braies (Pragser Tal).

...until now
The dairy built its first milk processing plant in 1953 in the centre of Brunico. By 1967, the cooperative began planning a new, larger processing plant in Brunico in order to meet the demand for delivery of its milk. In November of 1974, after two years of construction, they completed the building and began production.

Over the decades, the cooperative developed a mixed range of dairy products together with the new plant and sold them under the brand name Senni. Today, Mila produces mainly mascarpone and cheese at the Brunico plant.

South Tyrol Cooperative for Mountain Goat’s Milk

Goat farmers founded the South Tyrol Cooperative for Mountain Goat’s Milk in June 2006. The cooperative has a total of 16 members from Val Passiria (Passeier), Camp Tures (Sand in Taufers), San Lorenzo di Sebato (St. Lorenzen), and Naz/Sciaves (Natz/Schabs).

In 2007, the cooperative delivered almost 252,000 litres of goat’s milk. Its product range comprises fresh goat’s milk; natural, apricot and wild berry goat’s milk yogurt; and goat cheese from the Passiria Valley.