About the company
A lot has happened since we started more than 70 years ago. The market and our business have undergone a major transformation. Despite the fact that there were around 1700 dairies back then, and today there are less than 75, we have still managed to keep up the momentum. We are selling more than ever to the Danish dairy industry.
With a wide range of products, commitment to a high level of service and, not least, a district-divided rota with our own trucks, we have managed to acquire many new customers in the rest of the industry.
We can mention swimming pools, heating plants, galvanizing companies, fish farms and textile dye works as some of the industries that now belong to our clientele.
Today we have our own bottling plant where chemicals are bottled into cans, barrels and pallet tanks. In terms of logistics, there have been significant changes, as we used to deliver only from our own warehouse. Now, for example, it is part of everyday life that goods are transported in large batches from the factory directly to the customer.
These supplies are not only from Danish producers, but also from foreign ones with whom we trade directly. With a flexible organization, we are able to provide a service that is a little more than customers expect – not only today, but also in the future.
At the beginning of the last century, P. Møller established himself in Thisted, trading in dairy products and cheese, wholesale and retail. At this time, Søren Sørensen was dairy manager at Fannerup Dairy in Djursland. In 1919 he bought Thisted Mælkeforsyning, which was run for a few years, after which P. Møller offered him the position of accountant and manager of his business.
Søren Sørensen sold the dairy and started at Møller on November 1, 1921. At that time, the company had a cheese shop and office in Jernbanegade 3 and also a cheese warehouse and a warehouse for dairy products in Mellemgade.
On May 1, 1930, Møller rented premises in the former Thisted Uldspinderi, located in Østergade and on Hjultorv, for an annual rent of DKK 1,200, - and got, by the standards of the time, a good layout with cheese warehouse and expedition on the ground floor and warehouse for dairy products on the 4th floor. Fortunately, the large factory building was equipped with a goods elevator, which was quite unusual at the time.
The office and shop continued unchanged in Jernbanegade, and was looked after by Søren Sørensen. P. Møller visited the dairies to buy cheese and sell dairy products, and in those days it was natural for these two things to go hand in hand.
1. November, Søren Sørensen took over "Cheese and wholesale and Dairy articles". Rented the premises used in Uldspinderiet and set up an office there. The business was now run under the name "P. Møllers eftf. Møllers eftf. v/ S. Sørensen." At that time, goods were delivered in the town by horse-drawn cart, wagon and bicycle. Out-of-town customers were served by couriers, carriers and railways.
In the then Thisted County, there were 40 dairies, which formed the backbone of the dairy articles customer base. Among these, only two were cheese producers, they made a little skimmed milk and 10% cheese in the summer and only for the suppliers, who had to supply the milk themselves. Therefore, there were also deliveries to dairies on Funen and the rest of Jutland, from which we took cheese.
In December, the warehouse with dairy products at Thisted Uldspinderi burned down. This caused some problems, as virtually all goods at that time were rationed, so the stock consisted largely of goods bought in on the dairies' purchasing authorizations. As a result, the Directorate-General for Trade had to be approached many times to obtain compensation for the burnt goods. To replace the burnt premises, others were rented in the city.
On June 1, the company moved to Gasværksvej 15 in premises that had been seized by the German Wehrmacht during the war.
The company acquired its first truck for the transportation of goods, partly as a flatbed truck and partly as a cheese sales truck with a removable box. The price for this marvel was 13.000,- kr. Peter Sørensen was employed as a driver/salesman and visited retailers every fortnight to sell cheese.
The company was given its current logo. This is designed by Niels Sørensen and is a ribbon, not a Viking ship as many people misinterpret it. We have stubbornly stuck to the term, despite numerous suggestions from various media professionals.
The space on Gasværksvej became too cramped and the company bought Strandgade 5, (Th. Christensens Købmandsgård), where they moved into the restored warehouse.
The dairies started with tanker collection of milk and there was a great need for farm tanks, farm coolers and feed wagons. Cooperation is established with Hillerslev Beholderfabrik, which manufactured these products. We sold the products until the market was saturated. Today, more than 25 years later, many milk cooling tanks are still in use.
We then continued our cooperation with Hillerslev Beholderfabrik and had a number of silo tanks and milk transport wagons manufactured.
At the request of several dairies in Vendsyssel, a branch is established in Hjørring with two employees. The cheese wholesale department in Thisted is being closed down to make use of the cheese warehouse for the increasingly bulky dairy items
The 3rd generation enters the company, with Peter Sørensen joining as a salesman and consultant. Peter immediately takes on the task of visiting all dairies in Denmark. At the time, it was a very extensive piece of work. With his dairy background, Peter was able to keep up with the technical aspects of a rapidly evolving industry.
When the space and access conditions in Strandgade gradually became unacceptable, our current domicile was built on Tigervej. The picture shows our headquarters at the top of the picture, the smaller of the two buildings in the picture. The large hall below is the former Sørensen's timber trade, now CESTE Træ. Today you can't see a single field, as all the building plots are filled up with businesses.
Michael Sørensen (third generation) is recruited to take over bookkeeping and finance. Michael returns to the family business after a number of years with companies such as Aalborg Portland.
The company is transformed into an I/S, which was intended to establish the current 3-share ownership. In the same year, we acquired our first computer system. The computerized system was an amazing technological advance. Among other things, it had a 20 mb network hard disk, which served two workstations. It even ran on 5½ inch floppy disks.
Orla B. Jensen is hired as a consultant to service our dairy customers in the Funen and Southern Jutland area
Sales to the industrial sector are growing, which is why Bent Ovesen is hired as sales manager to service existing customers as well as seek out new customers and markets. In the photo, there is a picture of our truck from that period.
Søren Sørensen (son of Michael Sørensen) is recruited to take charge of logistics and stock management. Since childhood, Søren has been working in the company with tasks in the warehouse and in the bottling plant. Søren has previously been employed in the defense and has simultaneously studied various economic and management subjects. In addition, Søren brings with him a lot of professional experience from a couple of years as a truck driver for another company. This introduces the 4th generation in the company.
Simon Sørensen (son of Peter Sørensen), and thus another 4th generation is hired as a salesman with a focus on sales and customer care, as well as building new markets. Simon is a graduate of the Aarhus School of Business.
Søren (son of Michael) and Simon (son of Peter) are now part of the ownership circle. However, there is no significant change in the day-to-day workflow.
The last part of the ownership is handed over to Søren and Simon and a 75th anniversary celebration is held.
