Arla renews contract with Asda for own-brand milk

Arla has confirmed that Asda has renewed its contract for the supply of its own-brand milk and cream.

The three-year deal allows Asda to source more than 1.5bn litres of British milk from the co-operative, which is similar volumes to the deal previously in place.

The news has been welcomed by Arla members, coming only a week after it emerged that Tesco had made the decision to award a significant volume of Arla’s fresh liquid milk business to Muller Milk and Ingredients.

See also: Tesco under fire again over milk contract claims

In addition to the new contract, Asda is increasing its support to Arla by extending the Asda DairyLink groups, where it has been working directly with Arla farmer owners to improve animal welfare, reduce their carbon footprint and increase efficiency on farm. 

Peter Giørtz-Carlsen, executive vice-president, Arla Foods UK, said: “This is welcome news and we value Asda’s continued support for our dairy farmers. This demonstrates that we need to develop our industry by partnering with our retail customers and adding value.

“We look forward to working further with Asda and supporting their commitment to our owners.”   

Martin Evans, chairman of Asda DairyLink and an Arla farmer, added: “Life on farm is extremely tough at the moment and this news is exactly what our farmers need.”