Brookside partners with Co-operative Bank

John Gethi, Brookside Dairy's milk procurement director.

Leading milk processor Brookside Dairy has entered into a partnership with Co-operative Bank.

The deal will see the firm work with the bank’s capacity-building arm, the Co-op Consultancy and Insurance Agency, to train officials of societies on good corporate governance.

John Gethi, Brookside Dairy’s director of milk procurement and manufacturing said the training for board members would encompass topics such as performance measurement and internal controls to ensure co-operatives are better managed.

“It is in our best interest, as the main market for raw milk from dairy co-operatives, that the groups adopt sustainable management practices that would eventually encourage members to increase milk production,” said Gethi.

The firm partners with more than 300 dairy co-operatives across the country. The trainings are set to benefit cooperatives staff from 27 counties.

Meanwhile, milk intake in the formal sector grew seven per cent last year to register second best performance for the dairy industry in 18 years.

Data from the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) shows the volumes bought by five major processors hit 634 million litres up from 591 million realised in the previous year.

The five leading processors—Brookside, New KCC, Githunguri, Meru and Kinangop—account for more than 80 per cent of all the formal milk intake.