Scandinavian dairy giant Arla Foods said today (18 April) that its Chinese venture has started building work on milk powder plant in the country.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more


The venture, with China’s leading dairy group China Mengniu Dairy, is building the facility next to a current plant in the region of Inner Mongolia.


Arla said the project, which costs around US$40m, would quadruple the venture’s capacity. Mengniu Arla’s production director Ulrik Sletten said: “The new plant will be of a very high technological standard along the same lines as Arinco in Denmark and Vimmerby in Sweden. Our big challenge now is to keep to the timetable. Bearing in mind the extremely cold winters, the building itself must be completed before November.”


Arla claimed the site will become China’s “largest and most advanced milk powder plant”.


The two companies formed Mengniu Arla last year. The venture also announced that it would move its headquarters to Beijing from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Earlier this week, Mengniu posted a 60% leap in profits for 2006 thanks to the growing number of dairy consumers in China.


The performance helped boost Mengniu’s share of China’s liquid milk market to 33%, according to figures to the end of December last year.

Just Food Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Food Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Winning five categories in the 2025 Just Food Excellence Awards, Centric Software is setting the pace for digital transformation in food and FMCG. Explore how its integrated PLM and PXM suite delivers faster launches, smarter compliance and data-driven growth for complex, multi-channel product portfolios.

Discover the Impact