Arla farmers call on shoppers to make a positive difference to the UK dairy industry
Arla Foods, the farmer-owned dairy company, is calling on shoppers to support dairy farming by buying its well-known and leading dairy products including Anchor, Cravendale and Lurpak in a new national campaign, Support Our Farmers, which includes a series of advertisements in the national press, leaflets and a social media initiative.
One in four British dairy farmers is an owner of the Arla cooperative with 100% of the profits paid back to them. A network of Arla dairy farmers will be supporting the campaign by distributing thousands of leaflets in their local communities highlighting how buying from Arla can support achieving a better price for their milk.
Ash Amirahmadi, Head of Milk and Member Services at Arla, said: “We have consistently delivered a leading milk price for our farmers, but over recent months there has been significant pressure on the global milk market, where the price of milk paid to farmers is being squeezed. Due to our ownership structure, we are acutely aware of the impact this can have on our farmers as well as the wider dairy industry. We believe that the British public wants to help dairy farmers and we want to help them understand how buying Arla products benefits them directly.”
David Christensen, Arla farmer owner from Oxfordshire, continues: “As a dairy farmer owner, I can’t overstate how much of a contribution that buying our products can directly help my milk price. Arla’s structure means, crucially, that there are no middlemen to cream-off the profits. The strength and scale of our cooperative means that we can work together and mobilise our farmer-owned business to ensure the public knows who benefits from their purchases.”
Barbara Hughes, Vice President of the Women’s Food and Farming Union and Arla farmer owner from Cheshire, adds: “Where would we be without milk? Right now, we need the British public to support dairy farmers so that we can continue to milk our cows and produce the high quality dairy products that we all enjoy every day.”
Arla Foods is a global dairy company and co-operative owned by 13,500 dairy farmers circa 3,000 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 sixth 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, Cravendale, and Lactofree. It processes 3.5 billion litres of milk a year and has a turnover of £2.2 billion. As well as being number one in fresh liquid milk, 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 and has plans for it to be the first zero carbon site of its kind. The UK business has a team of approximately 4,000 colleagues located at its dairies, distribution centres and head office.