A supply deal with US space agency NASA has helped Scandinavian
dairy firm Arla Foods to develop a raft of cutting edge products it
now wants to adapt for consumers on earth.
Arla Foods UK has announced promising progress for the year but
warned farmgate milk prices were likely to fall and consumers will
have to pay more for steep input cost rises.
The European Court of Justice's feta ruling may give sole rights to
Greece, yet one of Europe's leading dairy producers has been
preparing for years to find a way round the new rules.
The EU's CAP reforms continue to force changes on Europe's dairy
firms as Arla Foods announced it will close a Danish milk powder
plant that is no longer vital for production.
The UK branch of dairy processor and ingredients supplier Arla
Foods told investors yesterday that it is still on track to reach
revised profit targets for the year, boosted by its brands
performing well.
Arla UK claimed a moral victory in its long dispute with rival
Robert Wiseman Dairies in Scotland, after the competition appeals
body over-turned an 'inadequate' investigation by the Office of
Fair Trading.
Arla's switch of production from the EU to Saudi Arabia will save
the firm money and help it to benefit from the Middle East's
significant potential for high value diary products.
Arla Foods' factory re-jig paid off this week as the group signed a
joint-venture deal with China's leading dairy firm to get its added
value milk powder products into one of the world's fastest emerging
dairy markets.
Dairy group Arla Foods, under pressure from intense cost pressures,
will cut staff and production at a speciality milk powder plant in
Denmark to help salvage full-year profits.
Arla UK, one of the country's biggest milk processors, has warned
that 2005 profits will be hit by intense cost pressures,
highlighting the crucial role of value-added dairy development to
insulate margins.
Dairy producer Arla Foods, which supplies butter to a number of
bakeries, has sent out one of the first signals that the dairy
sector is hurting from a reduction in EU agricultural export
subsidies.
Arla UK has been criticised for setting up a new wave of
instability through Britain's milk supply chain after it cut the
price it pays to farmers for milk, citing cost pressures,
reports Chris Mercer.
