Plunging temperatures send sales soaring

When freezing temperatures, snowfalls and strong winds brought chaos to the country recently, shoppers rushed to the supermarkets as soon as the weather was forecasted, boosting Arla Foods' milk sales.

At ASDA, Somerfield, Kwiksave and Tesco, Cravendale sales were the highest they've ever been and it wasn't just Cravendale sales that were affected, panic buying meant that demand for Arla's UHT and fresh milk also increased.

"At ASDA sales of UHT were 25% up against normal Monday, while fresh milk was up 18% and Cravendale saw an increase of 30%," explained Catherine Marsland, CPFR manager for ASDA.

"Fresh milk deliveries into ASDA stores were bigger than the Christmas peak," Catherine added.

This was also the case for Sainsbury's, which reported higher overall milk sales than the Christmas peak.

Tesco's likewise enjoyed record fresh milk sales and Morrisons also experienced increases in demand of 8.4% on a normal week.

Arla Foods UK plc is home to some of the UK’s leading dairy brands including Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor. Processing approximately two billion litres of milk a year Arla continues to be one of the UK’s leading dairy companies and a supplier of fresh liquid milk and cream to the top seven retailers.

Over 2,500 daily deliveries are made directly to stores nationwide and Arla brands can be found across the dairy category. As well as the leader of the butter, spreads and margarine sector, and a major supplier of other added value products including flavoured milk and cheese, Arla continues to build working relationships with Arla Foods Milk Partnership, a unique group of dairy farmers, which supplies around 90 per cent of Arla's total milk requirements.

Behind this leading business is a team of circa 2,800 people across the UK located at our dairies, distribution centres and head office.