Today marks the official start of the shared future for the two dairy cooperatives, Arla Foods and the DMK Group. The companies are merging under the name Arla to form Europe’s leading dairy cooperative, with 11,200 farmers, 28,800 employees, 19.4bn kg of milk and a turnover of approximately €20bn.

“The timing is right to shape the future of the dairy industry together. Today marks the culmination of a long-standing partnership and shared values between Arla and DMK. In an increasingly uncertain world, Europe needs food companies that can invest on a large scale and take responsibility for long-term resilience. By merging into a single agricultural cooperative, we are creating a European industry leader and strengthening our ability to be exactly that,” says Peder Tuborgh, CEO of Arla Foods.

It is emphasised that the merger is about more than just scale; the aim is to drive change in order to reduce the impact on the climate and the natural environment, as well as to expand market presence.

The merged company is named Arla and has its headquarters in Viby J, Denmark. Peder Tuborgh is CEO, and the former DMK CEO Ingo Müller will lead the integration of DMK as Chief Integration Officer (CINTO). This includes the merger of the agricultural cooperatives DMK eG and DOC Kaas U.A., which form the DMK Group, into a European cooperative that will merge with Arla Foods a.m.b.a. over the course of a two-year transition period. DMK GmbH and its subsidiaries will become a subsidiary of Arla Foods and will thus retain their legal status.

Photo: Arla