Do you know Arla?

About us

Arla Foods is the 4th largest dairy company in the world and a cooperative owned by more than 12,700 dairy farmers. Arla combines traditional craftsmanship and world-class technologies to ensure its products remain closer to nature, from farm to fridge.

We ensure our dairy products are crafted with quality, natural ingredients in an environmentally-friendly way. With a delicious range of cheeses, Arla aims to bring joy to those every day moments that make up life.

We believe in safe, natural and healthy dairy products

As a farmer-owned company, we are committed to high standards of animal welfare, product quality and food safety. Our quality program is called Arlagården®. It gives us a long-term perspective for farm management and is our way of ensuring the quality of the products you enjoy. The program includes checking the cows daily to make sure they are healthy and in good condition and working closely with farmers to help them achieve high milk quality.

Our heritage goes back to the 1880's

Our philosophy of producing natural, healthy and high quality dairy products dates back to the 1880s when dairy farmers in Denmark and Sweden joined forces with one common goal: To produce and provide the best dairy products, like the delicious varieties of cream cheese available in the U.S.

Arla U.S. production

The Wisconsin Hollandtown dairy was built in 1897 after a group of Wisconsin farmers came together with the mutual ambition of marketing their milk. The dairy started licensed production for Arla Foods in 1998 before Arla purchased the dairy in 2006. Today, the plant employs over 150 people and produces our best specialty cheese types, including Havarti, Gouda, Edam, Fontina and Muenster.

Owned by 12,700 farmers in seven countries

Because we are farmer-owned, all of our earnings go back to our farmer owners. This means that when people buy our products, the money is split equally between each liter of milk that our owners supply. That’s a key part of our cooperative philosophy.

We control every step of the way

Because we are owned by the same farmers who produce most of our milk, we have full control of the milk’s journey from our cows to you. Every single step of the way is recorded and can be traced. Using this tracing system, we ensure that you always get the best, pure and tasty milk.

Free from antibiotics and synthetic hormones

In line with European standards, Arla farmers do not give hormones to their cows to increase the amount of milk they produce. The cows do just fine on their own, and when they're well-fed and looked after, they will each produce 25-30 liters of high quality, nutritious milk every day.

*Made with milk from cows not treated with rBST. No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows.

Free from antibiotics and synthetic hormones*

Environmental responsibility

Arla Foods is on a global mission to create delicious, quality products in an environmentally friendly way. We work with our trusted dairy farmers and other partners to grow our business in a sustainable manner. And most importantly, we listen to you and your concerns. Our goal is to reduce greenhouse emissions 30 percent by 2030, continue to work towards more recyclable packaging and strive to become carbon net zero by 2050.

Sustainable practices

Our approach to sustainable dairy farming is based on us providing healthy, natural and safe food to the world’s growing population in a sustainable way. And we are leaders in our industry. One example is our support for the responsible production of the soy which our farmers use in their feeds.

Quality control

The majority of the feed used by Arla farmers is produced by the farmers, themselves. This requires less transport and reduces the amount of third party feeds that are imported. In turn, this reduces our carbon footprint. When our farmers produce their own cows’ feed, they know and control its quality to ensure sustainable, consistent, high quality milk production.