Arla closes UK cheese factory

Arla Foods is forced to close its cheese factory in Cornwall in the United Kingdom in the short term. Because production volumes have fallen in recent years and as a result of the continuing instability in demand from the food service, it is not financially sustainable, according to the dairy cooperative, to keep the production location.

Over the past 3 years, production volumes at Arla Foods' cheese factory in Cornwall (which mainly produce brie, camembert and specialty cheeses for local labels) have fallen sharply. The declining demand from the food service, as a result of the corona virus, has reinforced this trend. This makes it financially unfeasible for the dairy cooperative to keep the production location in operation. Therefore, the factory is expected to close by early summer. 37 jobs will be lost with the closure.

"As a dairy company owned by the farmer, our mission is to generate the highest value for the milk. This allows us to pay a reasonable milk price and our dairy farmers can continue to invest in sustainable dairy farming. Unfortunately, this also means that we are less profitable. operations," said Alison Rance, vice president of manufacturing at Arla UK. "We have explored several options for the cheese factory in Cornwall, but at the moment see no alternative other than closure."

Discontinuation of production
Milk from the Arla farmers in the area will now go to the Taw Valley and Westbury sites. The other products made in the cheese factory, including brie and camembert for local brands, cannot be produced in another location due to the specific production process and compositions. Arla Foods therefore plans to discontinue the supply of those products by the end of the summer of 2021.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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