FDBusiness.com

International dairy group Arla Foods has decided to close its Aarhus-based Brabrand Dairy, which produces fermented milk products such as yogurt, skyr and crème fraîche, and relocate production to other sites in Denmark, Holland, and Germany. This is to secure future production capacity in response to a growing European yogurt market and ensure a more uniform quality of the various fermented milk products.

“European consumers are buying more and more yogurt products, and we need to look at how we can secure future production capacity and ensure yoghurt products of a high quality across the European countries. As we cannot expand production at Brabrand Dairy because of the location and costs of production equipment, we are moving production to competence centres at primarily Danish, Dutch and German production sites,” says Jakob Bernhard Knudsen, senior vice president and Head of Arla Danmark.

Strong Danish brands still being produced in Denmark
The bulk of production from Brabrand Dairy will remain in Denmark and will move to Slagelse and Hobro Dairies to ensure the high quality, Danishness and the Danish organic logo that characterise Arla’s yogurt products. This ap-plies to a number of Arla’s well-known Danish brands , including 1-litre yogurt products Yoggi, Cheasy, A38, Arla Øko and crème fraîche, while production of smaller products requiring special packaging will be moved to Sweden and Germany.

“The aim is to create production sites that are experts within the individual products, both in terms of production and development,” explains Jakob Bernhard Knudsen.

The production site is not expected to be closed down until mid-2019. However, Arla has chosen to inform the 160 employees now. A plan will be prepared together with trade unions and the production site’s liaison committee to ensure that the 160 employees are given good terms – both if they choose to stay until the production site closes in 2019 and for their future careers.