Arla is to display new labelling to highlight its farmer-owned credentials on its branded products from the autumn.
The dairy co-op announced today (10 August) it was launching a product marque to allow consumers to “easily identify and trust that when they buy Arla-branded dairy products they are responsibly sourced from a farmer-owned business where all the profits go back to its owners” and had the “highest expectations for animal welfare and environmental standards throughout its supply chain”.
The new marque will feature on Arla ‘master brand’ brands including Cravendale, Lactofree, Big Milk and Skyr; Lurpak, Anchor and Castello products are excluded from the push.
The launch would be supported by a major marketing campaign, said the processor, which recently dropped its farmgate milk price for August by 0.8 pence to 23.01ppl, due to what it described as ongoing market volatility.
With dairy farming in crisis and protests over low farmgate and retail prices taking part across the country, the co-op said it would also work with its major retail customers “to increase the visibility of their continued support of its co-operative’s principles”.
“Our farmer-owned marque is the natural step following on from our Support Our Farmers campaign and the launch of the Arla brand earlier this year,” said Arla’s head of milk and member services, Ash Amirahmadi.
“While we cannot reverse the global factors it will play an important role in minimising the impact of this downturn and ensure that our business is in a strong position for when markets start to recover,” he added.
The launch comes on the same day that farmers’ union leaders convened a crisis summit in London to discuss the parlous state of the dairy farming sector, while Sainsbury’s ran a series of advertisements during the weekend across national media promoting its cost of production model.
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