Milei – the hidden champion of the food industry Welcome to Milei

Our name tells you what we’re about—MILEI originally stood for “Milcheiweiß,” meaning “milk protein” in German. It all began in the seventies. What started out with the production of powdered food supplements has since transformed into an innovator and global player. That’s because we meet the ever-increasing demand for nutritionally and technologically functional whey proteins. When it comes to quality and functionality, we are constantly setting new benchmarks for the entire industry. And we’d be happy to do the same for you!

APPRECIATION AND ENTREPRENEURIALISM OUR VALUES ARE THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FUTURE

The synergy of an East Asian culture of appreciation, respectful interactions, and the highest quality standards in combination with a fresh, tolerant world-view, reliable entrepreneurialism, and strategic farsightedness in dynamic markets drives us to forge new—and, where necessary, unconventional—paths.   

It is precisely these attributes and this attitude that help us each day to achieve our vision of being the market’s quality and performance leader.  

In this context, we regard the topic of “sustainability” as part of our operating mission within our business activities. We define sustainability as maintaining honest and reliable partnerships with all our stakeholders, and collaborating with them in terms of resource usage, employee development, nature conservation, and animal welfare in order to enjoy long-term success.

Facts

310 employees

11 trainees

60 countries

33,000 m2

54,000 m of pipe lines

2,712 daily quality checks per metric ton

19,036 weekly quality checks per metric ton

Subsidiary of Morinaga Milk

History List

1972: Founding of the company MILEI GmbH

1973: Groundbreaking at the Leutkirch production site

1975: Production of whey powder and lactose begins

1976: Introduction of the ultra-filtration process for producing MILEI milk-protein concentrates

1989: Lactoferrin is produced using the Morinaga process

1990: Lactulose and lactoferrin production begins

2002: Instantizing technology is introduced to the spray-drying process and Molkolac® is launched

2003 - 2006: Ausweitung der Ultrafiltrations-Kapazität

2007: Start des vierten Sprühtrockners

2009: Morinaga increases its shareholding in MILEI to 70%. The international R&D collaboration is intensified

2010: All company functions are consolidated in Leutkirch

2011: MILEI strategically focuses on becoming the market’s quality and performance leader

2012: Morinaga becomes the sole MILEI shareholder and thus strengthens MILEI’s position as a global player

2013: Decision to invest in a new production site

2014: Ground is broken on the new site

2016: Commercial production gets under way

2018: The new building is completed

2019: Relaunch Marketing Concept

2021: Opening New Laboratory & Innovation Hub

2022: 50 Years MILEI GmbH