Arla Foods is investing €210 million in its Taw Valley site in the UK as it seeks to consolidate its position as one of the leading mozzarella producers in the world.
The dairy giant will invest in state-of-the-art technology in the Taw Valley production facility as part of its Future26 strategy.
Peter Giørtz-Carlsen, executive vice president and COO at Arla Foods stated, “Our mozzarella business has seen double-digit growth over the past five years and we have strong relationships with key customers, particularly in global food service, and it’s from that very solid starting point we are announcing the investment [...] This investment allows us to stay among the leaders within mozzarella, serve our customers even better and at the same time improve profitability for our farmer owners’ milk”.
According to the company, it will help it offer better flexibility and open up innovation opportunities to meet demands from customers.
The technology includes several patents and brings down the maturing process from 14 days to just one, Arla added.
'State-Of-The-Art Cheese Production Site'
“With this investment, Taw Valley will become a state-of-the-art cheese production site and combined with our strong channel understanding in the global mozzarella category, we are strengthening our business further”, added executive vice president and head of supply chain, David Boulanger.
According to Arla, the cheese produced at Taw Valley will add in-demand volumes to its current mozzarella production and the majority will be exported to global foodservice customers around the world.
“This is a prime example of how we at Arla Foods constantly innovate in our process capabilities, improve our efficiency and drive product superiority in order to deliver our strategic ambitions, create growth and ultimately secure value for our farmer owners”, Boulanger added.
Arla aims to complete the construction of the new facility by 2026 and the first products are expected to roll out the following year.
The investment will have no impact on Arla Foods’ two other mozzarella production sites in Denmark, the company noted.
