Darigold, the 104-year-old Seattle-based dairy co-op, has launched Darigold ExchangeTM, the new digital trading platform that allows Darigold to solicit bids for product tenders in an open and transparent marketplace where buyers can see products on offer and the prices others are willing to pay, allowing them to make informed decisions on whether to bid themselves.
Darigold Exchange is the latest in a series of decisions from one of the nation’s largest dairy producers as it looks to align around centralised portfolio management, where its sales teams around the world represent its full line of dairy products, rather than relying on specialised teams offering access to only parts of its full product portfolio.
Said Mark Armon, head of Darigold’s Class III and IV portfolios: “Our business is fundamentally about finding or creating sustainable markets for the milk our hardworking farmer-owners produce, providing the high-quality dairy products our customers have come to expect from us, and getting the most value we can from the milk our farmers provide. This platform will make us more efficient in each of those areas, allowing customers – either new or potential – to engage with us more easily, providing a platform to sell products efficiently and at transparent prices, and providing real-time analytics into the value of various products we put on the Exchange.”
Darigold believes its focus on centralised portfolio management will enhance customer service by giving its customers access to its complete product portfolio through a single relationship and allow the co-op to build additional value for its farmer-owners by giving its teams greater visibility into the needs of its customers and the opportunity to meet those needs efficiently.
Darigold Exchange is powered by Nui Markets, the New Zealand-based company whose trading platform is revolutionising the way agricultural products are traded.
Comments Kevin O’Sullivan, chief executive officer, Nui Markets: “Innovative food and agriculture companies like Darigold see the potential in leveraging our platform to expand their business. As one of the first U.S. producers to adopt the platform, they have taken an important step to meeting customers around the globe where they are increasingly looking to buy the products and commodities they need.”
Darigold’s initial offerings using Darigold Exchange have been off-specification products, allowing the co-op to find buyers quickly and efficiently for products that do not meet the technical specifications of existing client contracts, but the co-op envisions a time where many of its top-tier products will also be available using the Exchange.
Darigold’s move to embrace a central portfolio management strategy comes as the company is looking to grow its business, domestically and globally. The co-op recently broke ground on a $600 million production facility to expand butter and powdered milk products, and expects to process an additional 8 million pounds of milk per day when the new facility begins operations in 2024. For more visit darigold.com
