Arla farmer owners open their gates for Open Farm Sunday
People from up and down the country came together to explore and discover more about dairy farming and the source of some of their favourite dairy products.
Arla worked closely with Open Farm Sunday organiser LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) to take its place amongst a wide range of names from across the food and farming sector, and to support the initiative by demonstrating the key role its farmer owners can play in educating the British public about day-to-day life on farms and dairy products.
Arla’s participation is driven by a strong public need for accurate information about dairy farming to inform people about the provenance of foods they eat and dispel misconceptions.
The significance of dairy education is underlined by a new survey from the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF)[1], which finds that nearly a third (29%) of five to seven-year-olds think that cheese comes from a plant; and a quarter of eight to eleven-year-olds think the same.
Tomas Pietrangeli, Managing Director, Arla Foods UK, commented:
“We are proud to continue to be a part of Open Farm Sunday – an important initiative to demonstrate the hard work of British farmers. Arla farmer owners worked tirelessly to ensure visitors young and old gain a better understanding of what agricultural life entails, how we work to protect the countryside and where their favourite products start out.
“This year’s event was another tremendous success and we are excited to have played our essential part in illustrating the fantastic work of the farming industry.”
Open Farm Sunday 2017 saw hundreds of farms across the country open their gates to welcome the public. Now in its 12th year, the event has brought 1.8 million onto 1,500 local farms across the country.
Arla Foods is a global dairy company and co-operative owned by 12,000 dairy farmers with circa 2,500 of whom are British.
Dating back to 1881, Arla’s purpose is to secure the highest value for its farmers’ milk, while creating opportunities for their growth. With production facilities in 11 countries and sales offices in a further 30, Arla is the world’s fifth largest dairy company and largest supplier of organic dairy products. Arla has a total of more than 18,000 colleagues and its products are sold under the well-known brands Arla®, Lurpak® and Castello® in more than 100 countries.
Arla Foods UK is the largest dairy company in the country and is home to leading dairy brands Anchor®, Arla Cravendale®, and Arla Lactofree® with a turnover of €2.2 billion. The UK is largest market within the Europe Zone, contributing 35% of the zone’s turnover and also comprises 25% of the Group revenue.
As well as being a leading supplier of fresh milk, number one in butter, spreads and cream, Arla is the UK’s largest cheese manufacturer. It has also built the world’s largest fresh milk facility located at Aylesbury that later this year will become the first net zero carbon site of its kind. The UK business has a team of approximately 3,500 colleagues located at its dairies, creameries, distribution centres and head office.
[1] Source: British Nutrition Foundation: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritioninthenews/pressreleases/healthyeatingweek.html