Arla Foods launches new organic standards targeting 50 per cent growth

Arla Foods UK today launched new Organic 2.0 standards to boost sales of organic dairy products in the UK and attract even more British consumers who care about sustainability and animal welfare.

Farmer-owned dairy company aims to achieve more than 50 per cent growth across its UK organic retail and foodservice business in the next five years. This will see the size of Arla’s annual organic dairy business in the UK grow from 180 to 270 million litres.

The move is being announced as the organic food category emerges as one of the strongest grocery sectors during the last 12 months, with sales growing by 9.4 per cent, compared to just 5.6 per cent for its non-organic counterparts.

Arla’s new Organic 2.0 standards set out the specific criteria its organic farmers must meet from January. This is being introduced to add even more value to the organic dairy products and to give consumers a relevant and forward thinking offering in an increasingly competitive category.

As part of the new standards, Arla’s organic farmers will now be required to convert to 100 per cent green electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, biogas and hydropower. The new standards also require that organic Arla farmers achieve a 30 per cent reduction in CO2e emissions per KG of milk by 2028, two years before the cooperative’s wider 2030 target for conventional farms.

The organic dairy category in the UK grew by 4 per cent last year, and Arla has seen double-digit growth in its UK organic dairy business year-on-year for the last five years.

“We believe there is a big potential for organic dairy here in the UK as more and more British consumers are turning to organic food,” Ash Amirahmadi, Arla Foods’ UK managing director, said.

“Just like in other parts of Europe, we believe the trend of organic dairy will continue to grow in the UK, and with our new and improved organic standards we want to make it even more attractive for British consumers to choose organic when they are shopping in the dairy aisle.”

In the UK, Arla sells its organic dairy products to a number of restaurants and food chains in the foodservice sector under the Arla Organic brand, whereas in the retail stores it sells its organic milk, butter and cheese products through the Yeo Valley brand as part of its license partnership with Yeo Valley Farms Ltd and through retailer own labels.