The claim

A chain letter reporting on Theo Müller and his group of companies is spreading again on Facebook and contains several false claims.

Our conclusion

The chain letter about Theo Müller is mostly false. The claims contained therein about his residence and business practices are misleading and have not been confirmed by reliable sources. The chain letter has been circulating since 2005!

The spread of chain letters on platforms such as Facebook is a well-known phenomenon. It becomes particularly strange when news like this, which should have been a thing of the past, suddenly becomes relevant again. The case of “Mr. Müller” is a prime example of the persistence of misinformation in the digital age.

We already reported on the recurring chain letter in 2013 , 2018 and 2019

“The story of Mr. Müller from Aretsried” (Müllermilch)

A post on Facebook that was previously posted in 2015 is being shared again. Nobody seems to care that this posting is over eight years old.

Screenshot Facebook post
Screenshot Facebook post

This here, this is Mr. Müller.

Mr. Müller comes from Aretsried, which is in Bavaria, in the very south. Mr. Müller is an entrepreneur. And you've probably all seen what's manufactured in Mr. Müller's factories when you've been to the supermarket. Mr. Müller only makes things that are made from milk.

Well, the cows actually produce the milk, but Mr. Müller packages it nicely and ensures that it gets to the supermarket where you can buy it. The things that Mr. Müller makes are so good that even Mr. Bohlen advertised them. Because Mr. Müller is an entrepreneur, he thought he would do something and build a new factory.

He builds them in Saxony, which is in the far east. Nobody actually needs a new milk factory because there are already far too many of them - and they produce far too many dairy products - but Mr. Müller built it anyway. And because the people in Saxony are very poor and have no jobs, the state supports the construction of new factories with money. In contrast to dairy products, there are never enough jobs. So Mr. Müller filled out an application, took it to the post office and sent it off.
A few days later, the state of Saxony and the gentlemen from the European Union in Brussels sent him a check for 70 million euros. 70 million, that's a number with seven zeros - a lot of money. Much more than fits in your piggy bank. So Mr. Müller built his new factory and hired 158 people. Hurray, Mr. Müller! Now that Mr. Müller's new factory has produced a lot of dairy products, he has realized that he can't sell them at all because there are far too many factories and dairy products.

Well, actually he knew that beforehand, the gentlemen from the state of Saxony and the European Union also knew it - it's no secret. They gave him the money anyway. It's not their money, it's yours. Sounds strange, but it is true. So what did he do, Mr. Müller?

In Lower Saxony, which is quite far to the north, Mr. Müller also has a factory. It's been there for 85 years and at some point Mr. Müller bought it. Because he now had the beautiful new factory in Saxony, Mr. Müller no longer needed the old factory in Lower Saxony, he closed it and 175 people lost their jobs. If you paid close attention in school, then you probably noticed that Mr. Müller created 17 fewer jobs than he eliminated.
He received 70 million euros for this. If you now divide the 70 million by 17 - you can use a calculator - then you will know that Mr. Müller received over 4 million euros for each job destroyed. Then he, Mr. Müller, laughs - of course only when no one is looking.

Otherwise he looks very sad and tells everyone how bad he is feeling. But Mr. Müller doesn't just sit around, he also makes sure that he feels better. He is economical, Mr. Müller.

. . You probably know the cups in which Mr. Müller's milk used to be sold. It tastes good and 500 ml fits in it, which is half a liter. For some time now, Mr. Müller has been selling his milk in funny bottles and no longer in cups. They are practical because you can close them again and they look pretty. However, there are only 400 ml left in it, but they cost the same. He's saving something, Mr. Müller - and saving is a virtue, we all know that. If you now ask why people like Mr. Müller aren't just hung from the nearest tree, then I have to tell you that you simply don't do something like that.

But the next time you're in the supermarket, just leave Mr. Müller's things on the shelf and buy the things that are next to them. They taste just as good, are usually cheaper and are perhaps made by an entrepreneur for whom the term “social responsibility” still has meaning. And to everyone who has passed THAT by: the good Mr. Müller has been supporting the NPD for years through party donations - she is his good friend.
An even more important reason to leave things on the shelf! Oh, by the way, that reminds me, Mr. Müller also wants to save inheritance tax and has therefore decided to move his residence to Austria.
We should all agree on one thing: Nothing more from Müller-Milch on the table!!!

If you are of the same opinion, send this email around the country so that everyone can see where their hard-earned tax dollars are

Rumors/claims

The chain letter in question claims that Theo Müller, the founder of the group of companies of the same name, lives in Austria and that his business practices are questionable. A connection is also made with the cultivation of genetically modified corn.

Evaluation

These claims are largely baseless. There is no solid evidence to support these allegations. In particular, the information about the entrepreneur's place of residence is factually incorrect, as he has lived in Switzerland since 2003.

Facts

  • Place of residence: Theo Müller has lived in Switzerland, not Austria, since 2003.
  • Business Practices: The allegations against his corporate practices are not substantiated by reliable sources.
  • GM maize: The reference to GM maize is misleading. Although there is a Greenpeace report from 2004 that points to the cultivation of GM corn, the direct connection to Müllermilch is not clearly proven.

Further information

  • Background: The chain letter appears to have originally been created in the context of a report by the ARD magazine “Kontraste” about the Müllermilch factory in Saxony, as the TU Berlin wrote.
  • Company statement: In 2009, the group responded to the allegations on its website , although this often goes unmentioned in the current versions of the chain letter. It is also written here that the chain letter has existed since 2004.

Since 2004, a chain email in several variations has been circulating on the Internet, in which various allegations are made against both the Theo Müller group of companies and against Mr. Müller personally.

Some of these are presented in a distorted manner, others are simply false and defamatory. In our opinion, abusing the format of the extremely popular children's program “The Show with the Mouse” is far from witty satire. All of the authors who continually distribute updated chain emails on the Internet have one thing in common: they make their claims anonymously.

An open and factual discourse would very quickly make it clear that the allegations are nothing more than a character assassination campaign. We are very pleased that the number of people who actively inform us about the chain email and express their solidarity is constantly increasing.

It is equally pleasing that more and more consumers are critical enough to ask for our opinion in order to form their own opinion. Thank you for that. Here is our commentary on the most relevant allegations: job cuts despite subsidies, fraud in the quantities of Müllermilch and financial support for the NPD.

Jobs created
The authors of the chain email claim that with the closure of the August Loose cheese dairy in Lower Saxony and the construction of the Leppersdorf plant, jobs were destroyed while at the same time receiving government subsidies amounting to 70 million euros.

That's wrong.

It is true that the construction of Europe's largest and most modern dairy in Saxony has now created a total of 1,781 jobs. This corresponds to a number of 2,160 employees (annual average 2012). This makes the Theo Müller group of companies one of the largest employers in the region, achieving growth and creating stable jobs. Of the 20 trainees hired per year on average, 90 percent are taken on at the end of their training. For economic reasons, it made sense to combine the Saxon dairy and the Lower Saxony cheese dairy at one location in Leppersdorf.

Incidentally, other companies do the same - but they usually relocate the jobs abroad and not to structurally weaker areas of Germany. This shift to new, modern production also made it possible to improve product quality - and a high-quality product secures jobs in the long term. The employees of the Lower Saxony cheese dairy have received job offers with transitional commitments.

However, only five employees permanently accepted this offer. The Theo Müller Group's investments in the new building and expansion of Europe's most modern dairy have amounted to more than 760 million euros since 1994.

The state subsidies of 40 million euros plus the 30 million euros from the EU budget are subsidies that every entrepreneur who creates jobs in the new federal states receives. For most companies, it is still cheaper to have production carried out abroad. The Theo Müller group sees things differently and is committed to Germany as a location.

In addition to the creation of new jobs in close and cooperative cooperation with the state ministries and authorities in Saxony, this also includes purchasing milk from the region and awarding contracts to construction companies, mechanical engineers, craft businesses, etc. And of course the Theo Müller group of companies also pays its taxes Germany. Müllermilch: Advantages outweigh
another accusation in the chain mail is that Müllermilch is only available in 400ml bottles for the same price instead of in 500ml cups as before.

That is not right. Müllermilch fans know that the flavors chocolate, banana and strawberry are still available in 500ml cups in the refrigerated section. The Müllermilch in the PET bottle is very valued and popular among our consumers due to its many advantages - greater handiness, unrestricted resealability and greater transport protection.

Numerous positive reactions confirm this to us again and again. In this respect, we even agree with the anonymous chain mail author when he says about the PET bottles: “They are practical because you can close them again and they look nice.” The production costs of the high-quality PET bottles are compared to the cups However, significantly higher - this explains the same price for a slightly smaller quantity.

No funding for right-wing radical parties
The claim that Mr. Müller has been financially supporting the NPD for years is highly defamatory.

This has no basis whatsoever and is completely out of thin air. As a full member of the CSU, Mr. Müller is a passionate supporter of the democratic constitutional state and resolutely rejects any form of political radicalism. There have never been and never will be any donations of any kind to the NPD or other right-wing radical parties. In this context, we would like to point out that Müller products have been successfully sold in Israel since January 2008.

Müller is the only international brand in Israel that produces Superkosher quality dairy products. This special challenge could only be mastered in close and trusting cooperation with the OK Kosher Certification Rabbinate in New York and Elad. We hope that with this statement we have dispelled any doubts about the Theo Müller group of companies and at the same time would like to thank you for your interest and your unbiased objectivity.

Conclusion

This chain letter to Theo Müller / Müllermilch, which originally dates from 2005, is an exemplary example of the longevity and spread of misinformation on the Internet. Its re-emergence shows how easily unconfirmed claims can persist and spread.

Source: Theo Müller Group (statement)

This article was made possible by the combined strength of our community power in the Mimikama forum! A big thank you to all Mimikamas involved. You can find out how we arrived at these findings HERE .

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Notes:
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