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Arla to double mozzarella production

Arla says that the increasing global demand for mozzarella will result in an expansion of Branderup Dairy in Denmark.

Arla will invest €80 million to more than double the production of mozzarella at the plant. At the same time, production is being enhanced with the use of new and more sustainable technology.

Arla's mozzarella production in Denmark is concentrated on Branderup and Rødkærsbro Dairies. From here, cheeses are shipped worldwide to 100 countries on all continents. Arla expects the European mozzarella cheese market to increase from around 650,000 tonnes in 2019 to 720,000 tonnes by 2022.

”We are very pleased with the expansion of Branderup Dairy. An expansion of this size places Arla in the forefront as one of the world’s leading producers of mozzarella cheese and gives us the opportunity to build on that position as a supplier of high quality mozzarella in Europe, Asia, USA and the Middle East,” said Sami Naffakh, Executive Vice President for Supply Chain.

Expansion at Branderup Dairy in Denmark will start at the beginning of 2020. Arla will expand the milk weighing capacity, milk silo inventory, milk processing area, storage capacity and add a cheese production line to increase the annual production by 53 million kilos of mozzarella. This more than doubles the current mozzarella production, such that Branderup Dairy in the future will produce 91 million kilos of mozzarella per year.

“We are very proud of our production of high quality mozzarella at Branderup Dairy and it is a very gratifying that a growing demand for our products now means that we must more than double our production. It helps create the future of dairy and I am happy for Arla, the dairy and our farmer owners,”said Rene Nørgaard, Senior Director of Arla's mozzarella production.

Arla will also create approximately 25 new jobs in the local market in connection with the increased capacity.

The expansion of Branderup Dairy is expected to be completed in the summer of 2021.