370 jobs threatened by Arla dairy closure
The dairy giant aims to begin transferring raw milk processing over a phased period, from October this year.
It said it had launched a consultation process with employees to address potential redundancies.
During the reorganisation, milk will continue to be collected, as usual, from farms supplying the dairy and be delivered to Arla’s other processing sites. However, the company said it might outsource its distribution function to a third-party provider.
“Our new dairy in Aylesbury is on track to be processing milk, commercially, by the autumn and volumes are ahead of our original expectations,” said Lars Dalsgaard, head of Arla UK’s supply chain.
‘Maximise the use of our well-invested dairies’
“In line with our long-term business goal, we intend to maximise the use of our well-invested dairies, complemented by our new, cutting edge, processing facility in Aylesbury, to meet the requirements of our customers.”
Arla has hailed its Aylesbury site as the most efficient, fresh milk processing facility of its kind, dedicated to delivering the highest possible returns to its farmers.
It has also claimed that the site is central to its sustainability agenda, with plans in place for the plant to generate zero net carbon emissions.
Arla UK has a milk pool of 3.2bn litres and is looking to expand its supply by a further 500M litres by 2017, by recruiting new farmers as well as through the expansion of its existing supplying farms.
