Arla Foods UK reports nearly flat revenue growth for 2019

Arla Foods Group has announced a slight revenue increase in the UK, mainly driven by the company’s branded sales.

The total revenue for 2019 marginally improved to €2.28 billion, from €2.27 billion in 2018, although a weakened exchange rate converts to £1.95 billion (down from £2.01 billion in 2018).

Branded products have been the highlight of the company’s performance in the UK, with its foodservice brand Arla Pro delivering a 45 percent volume driven revenue growth, Castello delivering 7.8 percent, Anchor 6.4 per cent and Arla 6 percent branded revenue growth.

The UK business accounts for 22 percent of last year’s €10.5 billion revenue (2018: €10.4 billion) for the global dairy cooperative which is owned by farmer owners, including 2,400 British farms, in seven different countries.

Ash Amirahmadi, managing director of Arla Foods UK, commented: “2019 marks another year of progress on our branded agenda as we continued to improve our branded sales within butter, spreads, cheese and yogurt categories.

“As peoples eating habits change, they want different things from dairy, and our brands deliver to this. However, we are not immune from the profitability challenges facing the British liquid milk category, which remains a significant part of our business. Performance in this category held back our overall UK results in 2019.”