Arla Foods launches sustainability brand in Germany
Image: Arla Foods
Arla Foods has launched the Arla Æ.K.T brand in Germany. The focus is on the sustainability measures of Arla and its dairy farmers, so with every purchase of Arla Æ.K.T consumers support the goals and actions for climate and animal welfare on Arla farms and in the dairies, the company says.
By scanning a QR code on the packaging, the climate footprint of Arla Æ.K.T fresh milk can be viewed quickly on the product website. The brand name Arla Æ.K.T is an abbreviation (acronym) of “Active for climate and animal welfare.” The use of the letter Æ is a feature to refer to the Scandinavian roots of the Arla dairy cooperative.
“Arla Æ.K.T. is our new ‘maker’s milk’. With it we show, what our dairy farmers and we are actively doing for the climate and animal welfare,” says Lillie Li Valeur, head of Arla Foods in Germany. “Our ambitious, science-based climate targets also make it clear that we are ambitious and are working on more sustainable dairy farming.”
Arla has set itself the goal of reducing CO2e emissions per kilogram of milk produced on the farms by 30% by the end of 2030.
In the offices, dairies and in-house logistics there is a 63% reduction in emissions planned by 2030, from the amount in 2015. To this end, Arla is working, among other things, to use 100% green electricity in its European dairies by the end of 2025, which also includes investments in solar and wind farms to generate green electricity.
With the voluntary, annual Arla climate checks, the individual climate footprints on Arla farms have been determined for three years and farmers receive professional advice on improvement measures to reduce their CO2e footprint. These measures range from optimised feeding and more sustainable farming to the use of green electricity on the farm.
With the Arlagården quality program, Arla has established its own evaluation system, which also checks over 30 animal welfare criteria on the farms. In addition, there are regular health checks on the cows, during which the farmers enter the data from their animals in a central Arla database and the results are documented and evaluated.
In addition, cows of Arla Æ.K.T farmers are out on the pasture for at least 120 days a year for at least six hours a day. The results of the climate checks, in which 88% of Arla meadow milk farmers (representing 94% of Arla meadow milk production) took part, show that on average 75% of the forage on these farms comes from their own fields. Local and self-produced feed means short transport routes and regionality.