Arla Foods UK
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arla Foods Ltd is a major
dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are Food product, food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, dairy goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include commo ...
company in the United Kingdom, based in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, and a subsidiary of the Arla Foods Group, which is owned by its farmer owners in seven countries including the UK.


Company profile

The company was created by the merger in 1980 of the British dairy group
Express Dairies Express Dairies is a former brand of Dairy Crest, that specialised almost entirely in home deliveries of milk, and other dairy products. History The company was founded by George Barham in 1864 as the 'Express County Milk Supply Company,' so na ...
and the British subsidiary of Arla Foods, a Swedish Danish dairy production co operative, jointly owned by Swedish and Danish farmers. The parent company, Arla Foods Amba, initially held a 51% stake, but acquired the rest of the company's shares in April 2007. In Britain, Arla supplies milk to retailers and produces many household brands, such as
Lurpak Lurpak is a Danish brand of butter owned by Arla Foods. It is sold in over 75 countries worldwide, and is known for its distinctive silver packaging. Lurpak came into existence in October 1901 after a combination of several Danish dairy farmers d ...
,
Anchor Butter Anchor is a brand of dairy products that was founded in New Zealand in 1886, and is one of the key brands owned by the New Zealand based international exporter Fonterra Co-operative Group. In Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, Fonterra uses the F ...
, Cravendale,
Lactofree Lactofree is a brand of lactose free dairy products, which is aimed at individuals with lactose intolerance. The brand was launched by Arla Foods UK in January 2006, and is available in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Bri ...
and Castello.


Name

The company name Arla is an archaic Swedish term for "early (in the morning)". Arla was originally chosen as the name of the Swedish company as Stora arla gård, "Great Arla Farm" in County Västmanland, Sweden, was one of the early founding members of today's cooperative.


History of parent

Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...
was formed as the result of the merger in 2000 of Swedish dairy cooperative Arla, and the Danish dairy company MD Foods in April 2000. Swedish Arla derived from an early dairy producing cooperative, originally called Mjölkcentralen (MC) founded in 1926 in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. Danish MD Foods was the result of the merger in May 1999, of Kløver Mælk and MD Foods. MD originally stood for ''Mejeriselskabet Danmark''. The merged company is headquartered in
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...
, Denmark. It’s UK farmers were formally part of the co-operative MilkLink till members voted to join Arla in 2012. Arla Foods is today owned by approximately 8,956 milk producers (2021) in Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and the UK.


Products

Arla is the largest supplier of fresh milk and cream in the United Kingdom, producing over 2.2 billion litres of milk per year. It produces two premium milk brands: Cravendale filtered milk, which undergoes a filtration process to remove bacteria before pasteurization; and
Lactofree Lactofree is a brand of lactose free dairy products, which is aimed at individuals with lactose intolerance. The brand was launched by Arla Foods UK in January 2006, and is available in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Bri ...
milk, from which
lactose Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
is removed, making it suitable for most
lactose intolerant Lactose intolerance is a common condition caused by a decreased ability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. Those affected vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop. Symptoms may include abdominal ...
people. Following the success of Lactofree milk, Arla introduced a range of lactose-free products, including cheese and yoghurt. As well as fresh milk, Arla produces the
Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
butter brand in the United Kingdom and Lurpak is produced by its Danish farmers. This was not widely publicised by the company, even though the brands had been established over decades as brands for butter imported from
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
respectively. Other products include
fromage frais ''Fromage blanc'' (; ; also known as ''maquée'') is a fresh cheese originating from the north of France and southern Belgium. The name means "white cheese" in French. ''Fromage frais'' ("fresh cheese") differs from ''fromage blanc'' in that, ac ...
, yoghurts and the blue cheeses Rosenborg and
Danish Blue Danablu, often marketed under the trademark Danish Blue Cheese within North America, is a strong, blue-veined cheese. This semi-soft creamery cheese is typically drum- or block-shaped and has a yellowish, slightly moist, edible rind. Made from f ...
. The firm also produces fruit juice.


Locations

The company has processing plants in England at Palmers Green (London), Stourton (Leeds), Settle (North Yorkshire) and Malpas (Cheshire), and in Scotland at
Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...
. In January 2009, Arla ceased production at their dairy in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. The company also operates the world's largest milk processing plant in
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
, which was opened on 24 May 2014. Arla Foods obtained the Westbury Dairies plant in January 2016, in Westbury, Wiltshire, which has become the primary site for the production of Anchor butter and Anchor Spreadable. Arla Foods briefly operated the
Milk Link Milk Link was a large dairy company in the United Kingdom. It was the UK's largest dairy cooperative and the UK's largest producer of cheese. In 2012 the company merged with Arla Foods. History It was formed in April 2000 as one of three succe ...
dairy in
Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...
, Devon following the merger with Milk Link in 2012. However was sold in a management buyout in April 2013 with the Crediton operations being renamed as
Crediton Dairy Limited Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motor ...
.


Controversies

According to the BBC, in August 2015, farmers were paid less per pint of milk by Arla than by supermarkets that buy directly. In August 2021, people acting on behalf of
Animal Rebellion Animal Rebellion is an animal and climate justice movement with the stated aim of compelling government action towards a plant-based food system. Their justification for the introduction of such a system is the impact of animal agriculture on c ...
blockaded Arla's dairy facility in
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
citing the large climate and ecological burden of dairy production when compared to plant based alternatives. The same site was again blockaded in September 2022.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Arla Foods British companies established in 2003 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Dairy products companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Leeds British subsidiaries of foreign companies