Arla has had a healthy pipeline of new launches in recent years and has now reached a point where it has maximized the potential of its current innovation setup, with the current centers in Denmark and Sweden not having the capacity to deliver Arla’s future growth agenda. Given the strategic importance the company is placing on innovation, Arla’s board of directors has taken the decision to invest 270 million DKK in a new global innovation center that will gather all of Arla’s innovation resources in a single location.

“Today we are launching more new products than ever before, and the ability to generate original ideas and products for the consumers is increasingly crucial for the business. Arla is one of the world’s leading dairy companies, and we must be in a position to drive and lead dairy innovation on a global scale in order to increase the value of our products and create new business for Arla worldwide,” says Senior Vice President and head of strategic innovation in Arla, Paul Cornillon.

Based in Denmark
The new global innovation center will be a 10,000 square meter (about 108,000 square feet) state-of-the-art facility with open space and project rooms for seamless collaborations and will be built in Aarhus, Denmark. It will become part of the Danish Food Cluster, which is an international cluster of excellence for innovation and distribution of knowledge within the agriculture and food sector.

”Various locations across Europe have been analyzed before our ultimate decision to base the center in Aarhus. The facility will be placed close to the many global functions that are based in Arla Foods headquarters, and we also see many opportunities to enter into partnerships and sharing knowledge with existing and future organizations in the Danish Food Cluster, which will strengthen Arla Foods’ innovation culture, reputation and performance,” says Paul Cornillon.

The construction of the Arla’s global innovation center is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2016 and it will employ 120 people, of which 65 will be transferred from the current center in Aarhus. The center will be compliant with 2020 energy standards in Denmark.

Increasing the value of milk
The investment of 270 million DKK will have significant strategic importance to Arla Foods.

”Innovation of the highest international standards plays a key role in Arla’s efforts to reach the targets in our Strategy 2017. We want 10 per cent of our annual revenue to come from new product launches. That is an essential part of our growth ambitions and our mission to create the highest possible value for the milk supplied by our cooperative owners,” says Executive Vice President Jais Valeur, who is head of Global Categories and Operations in Arla Foods.

The construction of Arla’s new global innovation center will begin in the spring of 2014.

Arla Foods is a international dairy company owned by 12.000 farmers from Denmark, Sweden, The UK, Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg. Arla Foods is one of the strongest players in the international dairy arena, with a wide range of of dairy products of highest quality. Well known brands like Lurpak® and Castello® belongs to the Arla family. Arla Foods is also the worlds largest manufacturer of organic products.