Arla Foods has acquired Australian cottage cheese producer Brancourts, alongside plans to significantly expand local production capacity. The acquisition reflects Arla’s commitment to enabling good food choices, while creating long term value for its farmer owners. It will be executed through Arla Foods’ successful joint venture with Australian family‑owned Mayers Fine Food, Arla Foods Mayer Australia (AFMA), and provides Arla with an established local production platform, supporting its long‑term ambitions in one of the world’s most attractive dairy markets.
Over recent years, Arla has built strong branded positions in Australia, with Lurpak and Castello holding leading positions in butter and cheese respectively. The acquisition of Brancourts marks a natural next step in strengthening Arla’s footprint in the market, enabling the expansion of its branded presence and entry into additional dairy categories on shelf.
“Australia is a highly attractive market for Arla, and we have confidence in its long-term potential,” said Lillie Li Valeur, Executive Vice President of Arla International. “The country combines a stable economy, high purchasing power, population growth as well as strong dairy traditions with high consumption and a sophisticated retail environment similar to Europe. Moreover, with the free trade agreements between EU-Australia and UK-Australia coming fully into effect, we anticipate even more opportunities in the years to come. Through AFMA, we have demonstrated our ability to build strong branded positions locally, and the acquisition of Brancourts allows us to apply our global category expertise to unlock further growth in line with consumer needs.”
Cooking cheese is a natural extension of Arla’s existing cheese portfolio and strategy for Australia. Within this space, cottage cheese is the fastest‑growing segment, experiencing over 40% volume growth year-on-year, driven by changing consumer preferences around health, protein, versatility and everyday cooking.
“The conditions are firmly in place for continued growth in Australia, both at category and consumer level,” said Mai Roberts, General Manager, Arla Foods Mayer Australia. “By combining Brancourts’ production capabilities with Arla’s global category and innovation expertise, we are well positioned to meet evolving consumer interests and needs by actively innovating the cottage cheese category – from product development to usage occasions – and accelerate its growth in the Australian market.”
With the acquisition of Brancourts, Arla gains decades of local production experience and a strong reputation among Australian consumers, making it a strong strategic fit for Arla’s growth ambitions for AFMA. Drawing on the scale, brand excellence and category experience of Arla, and the strong local operational capabilities and knowledge of the joint venture, Arla has the potential to unlock significant market growth.
“For Brancourts and our family, finding the right successor to our business was about shared values and a long term vision for our people, our site and the Australian market,” said Julie Conradt, fourth-generation owner of Brancourts.
“AFMA brings the ambition to invest in the future of the business, while respecting the heritage, people and local relationships that have defined Brancourts for generations. After more than 130 years of family ownership, I am incredibly proud of the contribution our family, our team and our products have made to Australian dairy, and excited to see Brancourts’ potential continue to unfold under its new owners.”
