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| Arla UK | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Founded | 2003; 22 years ago (2003)[1] |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Products | Dairy products –Lurpak,Cravendale,Lactofree |
| Revenue |  £2,620 million (2018)[2] |
Number of employees | 3,460[2] |
| Parent | Arla Foods |
| Website | www |
Arla Foods Ltd. is a majordairy products company in the United Kingdom, based inLeeds, and a subsidiary ofArla Foods, which is owned by its farmer owners in seven countries including the UK.
The company was created by the merger in 1980 of the British dairy groupExpress Dairies 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.[3]
In Britain, Arla supplies milk to retailers, such asAsda's own brand farmer's milk,[4] and owns many household brands includingLurpak,[5]Anchor Butter,[4]Cravendale,[4]Lactofree andCastello.
According to the BBC, in August 2015, farmers were paid less per pint of milk by Arla than by supermarkets that buy directly.[6][7]
In August 2021, people acting on behalf ofAnimal Rebellion blockaded Arla's dairy facility inAylesbury citing the large climate and ecological burden of dairy production when compared to plant based alternatives.[8] The same site was again blockaded in September 2022.[9]
In November 2024, Arla, andMüller became subject to aboycott by some consumers, after Arla Foods announced that they would add the product Bovaer (3-Nitrooxypropanol, main ingredient (is manufactured byDSM-Fermenich) to thecattle feed of some of their cows as a trial to reduce methane emissions. The boycott, according to Arla, andThe Grocer, is down to misinformation over the safety of Bovaer and its claimed links toBill Gates, which has been misattributed to different company in the same industry which Bill Gates has invested into (Gates' invested in the competing product 'Rumin8').[10] In response to the announcement, theSoil Association said that 3-Nitrooxypropanol would not be classed as anorganic ingredient.[11]
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; andLactofree milk, from whichlactose is removed, making it suitable for mostlactose intolerant people. Lactofree was launched in January 2006, and is available in theUnited Kingdom.[12] Arla began licensing its lactose removing patent to other producers, in September 2010.[13] Up to September 2010, Lactofree had seen growth by 37% year on year.[14] As of July 2021, Lactofree is worth 70.8% of the UK's lactose free milk market.[15] 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 butter under its popular brandsAnchor and Lurpak. In 2017, Alra made the decision to switch to British diary from imported New Zealand diary for its Anchor brand.[16] Lurpak continues to utilise imported diary from Denmark, where the bulk of Alra's farms are located. Other products includefromage frais, yoghurts (Skyr yogurt) and the blue cheesesRosenborg andDanish Blue. The firm also produces fruit juice.
The company has processing plants in England atPalmers Green (London),Stourton (Leeds),Settle (North Yorkshire) andMalpas (Cheshire), and in Scotland atLockerbie. In January 2009, Arla ceased production at its dairy inManchester.[17] The company also operates the world's largest milk processing plant inAylesbury, which was opened on 24 May 2014.[18]
Arla Foods obtained the Westbury Dairies plant in January 2016,[19] inWestbury, Wiltshire, which has become a site for the production of Anchor butter.[20]
Arla Foods briefly operated theMilk Link dairy inCrediton, 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 asCrediton Dairy Limited.
| Company Name | Industry | Organic Offering (Soil Association registered) |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi GB | Supermarket | Organic Fresh Milk offerred |
| Lidl | ||
| Asda | Organic Variant of fresh milk andbutter offered | |
| Morrisons | ||
| Tesco |
