Arla Foods
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| Type | agricultural cooperative |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters |  Århus |
| Key people | Peder Tuborgh (CEO) Ove Møberg (Chairman) |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Active members | 8 522 |
| Industry | Dairy |
| Revenue | ▲ 47.7 Billion DKK (2007) |
| Operating income | ▲ 1.52 Billion DKK (2007) |
| Net income | ▲ 938 Million DKK (2007) |
| Employees | 16 559 (2007) |
| Website | www.arlafoods.com |
Arla Foods is a cooperative based in Århus, Denmark, and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia. Arla was formed as the result of a merger between the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla and the Danish dairy company MD Foods on 17 April 2000.[1][2] Arla Foods is owned by approximately 10,600 milk producers in Denmark and Sweden. The name Arla derives from the same word as the English "Early" and means in older Swedish "Early morning". Arla was the name of a local Swedish dairy industry in the end of the 19th century which was one of the founders of modern Arla Foods.
Arla and DONG Energy together are the main sponsors for the Danish national football team.
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[edit] Subsidiaries
Denmark, Sweden, and the UK are considered home markets because the Group has production in all three countries. Turnover in these three markets accounts for approximately 73% of Arla Foods’ turnover. Arla owns 100% of the stock exchange-listed UK company Arla Foods UK. The purchase of Wisconsin-based White Clover Dairy, a company with 170 employees, on January 26, 2006, provided direct access to the U.S. market (White Clover had sold Arla products under license since 1998).[3] In addition to Denmark, Sweden and the UK, Arla Foods operates subsidiaries in 19 export markets.
[edit] Middle East boycott over Muhammad cartoons
Arla's sales were seriously affected by a boycott of Danish products in the Middle East in 2006. Transnational anger among Muslims over satirical cartoons of Muhammed was the immediate cause of this. After the Danish government refused to condemn the cartoons or meet with eleven concerned ambassadors from Muslim nations, a boycott was organized, starting in Saudi Arabia and spreading across the Middle East. The Middle East is Arla's largest market outside of Europe.
On 2006-02-03, the company said that sales in the Middle East had stopped completely, costing the company two million US$ a day[4]. Soon after the boycott began to affect Arla's sales, the Danish government met with Muslim ambassadors, and the newspaper and the government issued apologetic statements. Unfortunately for Arla, the boycott continued undiminished for some time.
In March 2006, Arla took out full-page advertising in Saudi Arabia, apologizing for the cartoons and indicating Arla's great respect for Islam in the country. This raised controversy back in Denmark, where women's organizations and some Danish politicians criticized Arla, and called on Danish women to boycott Arla's products in Denmark.
In April 2006, the company said that its products are being placed back in stores in the Middle East. Before the boycott, it supplied 50,000 stores in the area. It announced that many of its largest clients in Saudi Arabia would start selling its butter and cheese on April 8[clarify]. Arla has started sponsoring humanitarian causes in the Middle East in order to reduce bad feelings from consumers. [5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Arla genom åren (Swedish). Arla Foods. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
- ^ Historien bakom namnet Arla Foods (Swedish). Arla Foods. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
- ^ "Arla Foods acquires US dairy company", Nordic Business Report,January 26, 2006
- ^ "Arla cheesed off over Middle East boycott", The Daily Telegraph, 2006-02-04.
- ^ "Arla returns to the Middle East", BBC, 2006-04-07.
