Arla Germany sees gains in retail and debuts new products
Arla Foods Deutschland has seen first half 2020 increases despite difficult circumstances, the company says. It has become the fifth largest dairy group operating in Germany and sales of Arla brands rose 9.3% in the first six months of the year.
“Covid-19 has demanded a lot from us in Germany as well. But thanks to fast and efficient crisis management, we have managed to continue our business successfully and also to serve the peaks in demand in the retail sector, especially in March and April. It was crucial that we worked very agile and closely with our customers. In addition, we have accepted additional costs due to the coronavirus in order to meet the significantly increased demand under difficult conditions,” says Markus Mühleisen, the Germany boss at Arla Foods.
In order to ensure smooth production, Arla once again significantly increased the existing hygiene and safety measures in its two large German dairy plants in Pronsfeld (Rhineland-Palatinate) and Upahl (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).
As the focus in the first half of the year was on the stable continuation of the overall business, Arla held back with the introduction of new products in the German market during this time. The focus here was on the Arla Skyr brand with the introduction of a 1kg pot of Arla Skyr Natural and the new Arla Skyr recipe, which makes the product even smoother.
In the second half of the year there is again a stronger focus on new products: recently Arla launched an organic natural yogurt made from 100% pasture milk in vanilla or lemon flavours.
Arla has pushed ahead with the switch to more environmentally friendly packaging in the area of sustainability as well. For example, with its fresh Arla organic pasture milk, the new milk carton has one less packaging layer, making it lighter and made from 100% unbleached cardboard. Renewable raw materials are used in the manufacture of the plastic for the lid and the inner lining of the box.
The 1kg cup from Arla Skyr has also been converted to a new container, which is made from 4% less plastic than the previous cup and is 100% recyclable.
In addition, Arla is taking a stand against food waste in private households by participating in the ‘Often good for longer’ campaign by the social impact company Too Good To Go. In the first half of the year, numerous Arla products were printed with the label ‘Often longer good’ in addition to the best before date, such as all Arla Skyr products, Arla organic fresh pasture milk and numerous types of Arla Buko cream cheese. More products will follow in the coming months.
