Danish dairy major Arla Foods has pulled its Jörd alt-milk brand from UK retail shelves, it has confirmed.
Arla launched Jörd in 2020 – its first foray into plant-based milk alternatives – but it was controversial move for a business owned by dairy farmers. The co-op’s executives had also publicly opposed the plant-based challenge to dairy products.
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The company has not expanded on its reasons for the move but questions will be asked about its performance in what is a highly-competitive category.
It is understood the range has already been removed from the shelves of UK supermarket chains Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.
In a brief statement sent to Just Food confirming the move, an Arla Foods spokesperson said: “As a cooperative, we are constantly looking for ways to drive the greatest value for our farmer owners and we have made the decision to make a strategic shift and refocus the Arla Jörd product range for the foodservice channel. This means that we will no longer offer Arla Jörd as a retail product in the UK.”
A Barista version of the product will still be available to the foodservice channel in the UK “but it won’t appear under the Arla Jörd brand,” the spokesperson confirmed.
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By GlobalDataThe Arla Jörd brand will also “maintain a retail and foodservice presence” in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, with its barista offering.
When Arla launched Jörd, it said: “In recent years, an increasing number of consumers are looking for plant-based products and the trend is set to continue. Therefore, Arla has decided to enter the market for plant-based products to meet consumer demand and to develop the category with natural products and unique flavour compositions.”
The co-op relaunched the range in February last year as Arla Jörd with new packaging and a reformulated recipe. The range comprised three oat drinks, the Arla Jörd Oat Barista, as well as two oat-based fermented products. Only the Barista line remains.
Arla originally launched Jörd with three oat drinks: Oat; Oat & Hemp; and Oat & Barley.
The group recorded revenue of €6.6bn ($6.87bn) in the first half of 2024, down 6.5% year-on-year. EBITDA was up from €399m to €512m.
