Enigheden
Mælkeriet Enigheden, usually referred to simply as Enigheden, was a cooperative dairy products company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It existed from 1897 to 1996 and was from 1906 based at Lygten 39–41 in Nordvest. The Baroque Revival style main building from 1923 is now owned by C. W. Obel and the Lundbeck Foundation through a jointly owned investment company.
History
Mælkeriet Enigheden evolved from a labour dispute at Københavns Mælkeforsyning in 1896. A call for better wages and working conditions from the company's wagoners was rejected by Gunni Busck, prompting them to contact Arbejdsmændenes fagforening. The trade union's leader, Michael Christian Lyngsie, arranged a meeting at Gimle on 16 November 1896. All the wagoners who attended the meeting ended up joining the labour union. Gunni Busck reacted by initiating a lockout and recruiting people from farms in the vicinity of Copenhagen to do their work. At another meeting, held at Gammel Kro in Smallegade on 20 November 1896, some of the wagoners presented the idea of establishing their own dairy distribution company. The idea won the support of Lyngsie and Mælkeriet Enigheden was established as a limited company site, had its own waterworks. The property was later purchased by the company for DKK 207,000.In the 1920s, Mælkeriet Enigheden developed into one of the largest processors and distributors on the Danish market. In 1921, the company purchased the estate Lautrupgaard at Ballerup-Måløv. The estate covered approximately of farmland. It also acquired a number of smaller dairy products companies.
The position as managing director of the company was in the 1940s taken over by Viggo Eigtved. In the 1950s and 1960s, as refrigerators became more common, the need for direct delivery of fresh milk to consumers disappeared. Enigheden adapted to the new market situation by instead delivering milk to grocery shops. The Danish dairy market was consolidated up through the 1960s as may smaller cooperative dairy companies merged into larger players. Mejeriselskabet Danmark was established in 1970. It acquired Det Danske Mælke Compagnie in 1975 and Enigheden was acquired in 1996.