News

Arla opens Senegal facility

23 May 2016

Arla’s new Dano milk powder packaging facility has been officially opened in Dakar, capital of Senegal which the company sees as a significant gateway to further expansion in the West African region.

Arla’s new Dano milk powder packaging facility has been officially opened in Dakar, capital of Senegal. The new site is said to be an important step for the farmer-owned dairy company as it pursues its 2020 Strategy with Senegal a significant gateway to further expansion in the West African region.

The new plant has a capacity to annually handle 5,000 tonnes milk powder made in Europe from Arla’s farmer owners’ milk. At the 14,000m2 plant, fat filled milk powder and instant whole milk powder will be re-packed into various retail-sized packaging, for example foil sachets, which are said to be affordable and easy to mix with water to get a glass of milk.

“The facility is the latest milestone in Arla’s ambition to actively take part in developing the dairy market in West Africa and providing affordable nutrition of high quality to consumers in the region,” said Steen Hadsbjerg, head of Arla in Sub Saharan Africa. “It will also contribute with jobs as we will initially employ 20 people in the production and more as we grow the sales and thereby also the production volume.”

The sachets from the plant will initially be distributed to wholesalers and stores in Senegal by Arla’s partner, Dakar-based partner Agroline, and later extended to neighbouring countries.

“Agroline has a very strong ambient and chilled distribution setup across Senegal. Senegal will be our hub for expanding into Mali and also Mauretania with our products. Depending on capacity we expect to launch in Mali later this year,” said Hadsbjerg.

Arla already offers Dano long-life liquid milk in Senegal and said that its ambition is to drive a full value added product range. In addition to the retail business, in March 2016, Arla signed a mozzarella agreement with YUM-YUM, a local pizza chain in Senegal.

Senegal’s population is approx. 14 million people. Its dairy market is quite developed, Arla says, with an estimated value of €250m. The fastest growing categories are said to be flavoured milk powder, evaporated milk and yogurt. Average growth of the market is projected at 5% per year until 2020.Senegal plays a major role as transit country for milk powder imported in Mali, Burkina Faso and so on.