Arla Foods UK opens new storage and maturation facility for its award winning cheese
Arla, the farmer-owned dairy company and UK’s largest cheese manufacturer, has officially opened a new state of the art facility for the storage and maturation of its award winning cheese.
Cheeses from Taw Valley, Llandyrnog and Lockerbie will now go to the purpose built facility in Whitchurch, Shropshire. Once matured it is moved to the nearby cutting and packing Arla site in Oswestry before despatched to the retailers.
Previously the cheeses were stored and matured at a number of locations but now the process is managed by a sole supplier.
At the start of 2016, Arla signed a long-term contract with Shropshire-based storage and distribution company, Grocontinental, to build and manage the facilities following the dairy company’s extensive review of its current suppliers.
The new 32,000 pallet chilled store was officially opened by Michiel de Jonge, senior vice president, Arla Global Logistics and Ray Grocott, Chairman of Grocontinental. The facility will feature high density racking together with dedicated cheese grading facilities.
Speaking about the new site, Ian Brown, vice president, Arla Foods UK Logistics said:
“Arla has committed to grow its UK business by nearly a third by 2020, as part of the company’s global strategy for growth and to position Arla as the champion of British dairy. The decision to consolidate the maturation facilities from three of our creameries into one fantastic facility reflects how we are investing for the future to ensure quality, competitiveness and economies of scale.”
Arla Foods is a global dairy company and co-operative owned by 12,700 dairy farmers with circa 2,700 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®, Cravendale, and Lactofree® with a turnover of €2.9 billion. 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 and has plans for it to be the first zero carbon site of its kind. The UK business has a team of approximately 3,500 colleagues located at its dairies, distribution centres and head office.