By Arla Foods

In 2014 Arla Foods expects to process more milk for drinking than ever before: 25 billion glasses, enough to potentially serve 3.5 milk glasses for every person on the planet.

25,297,087,378 glasses of milk each measuring 250 mL. That is what Arla expects to process at its liquid milk, UHT and milk powder dairy plants around the world this year. This amount represents a little over half of Arla’s entire milk production expected for 2014.

If all of the glasses are lined up they would circle the Earth’s equator 47 times. If stacked, the glasses could reach the Moon almost seven times over.

"Milk for drinking has always been an essential part of Arla's processing - especially in Europe - and this year we expect to process more than ever. New consumers in growth areas like Asia and Africa are buying milk for its nutritional benefits, and consequently the global demand for milk is bigger than we have ever seen," says Executive Vice President Jais Valeur, who is responsible for Arla's global production and brands.

Meaningful milk
Globally, authorities recommend 2-3 servings of milk or other dairy products per day. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, milk is one of the most unique foods and considered of high importance in human nutrition, as milk contains 22 nutrients and makes a significant contribution to meet the body's need for calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, iodine, potassium and phosphorous.

"At Arla, we also believe dairy products play an important role in a balanced diet. But health benefits are only one piece of the puzzle. While serving the growing global demand for dairy products, Arla wants to be the most natural and sustainable global dairy company. This means offering natural food with high nutritional value to people across the world, while using as few of nature's resources as possible," says Jais Valeur.

Arla expects to process more than 11 billion kilos of milk from its cooperative owners in Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

FACTS
From drinking only 1 glass of milk (250ml) you will get approximately:

• 8.3 g of protein (~17% NRV*)
• 300mg of calcium (~38% of NRV*)
• 0.43 mg vitamin B2 (~30% of NRV*)
• 1.2 µg vitamin B12 (~48% of NRV*)

* NRV= EU nutrient reference values

Total glasses of milk that Arla expects to produce in 2014:
25,297,087,378 glasses
Glass dimensions used for calculations:

• Volume: 250ml
• Height: 10.5cm
• Diameter in upper side: 7.5cm
• Diameter in lower part: 4.7cm
• With this amount of milk glasses Arla could:
• Give 3.51 glasses of milk to every person on the planet (calculated at 7.2 billion people)
• Cover a length of 1,897,286 km – circling the globe 47.34 times (Earth circumference = 40,075 km)
• Stack them as high as 2,656,197 km – reaching the Moon 6.9 times (average lunar distance 384,400km).

About Arla Foods
Arla Foods is a global, co-operative owned dairy company.