Scandinavian dairy co-operative Arla Foods has hinted that UK milk producers could join the company’s cooperative structure.
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Arla, which has several hundred milk suppliers in the UK, has held talks with them on modernising the way the company is run.
An Arla spokesman told just-food that talks took place on Wednesday at the company’s HQ in the Danish city of Aarhus, hours after it had announced a shift in producer payment policies in favour of bigger suppliers.
“Discussions with the English farmers can include the possibility of them being co-owners, independently of the restructuring work that is just beginning,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that talks had been planned earlier but had not taken place because of the foot-and-mouth and Bluetongue outbreaks in the UK.
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By GlobalDataArla has around 10,000 cooperative members in Denmark and Sweden. Reports in Denmark said Arla’s corporate status and capital structure would be under discussion and could be used as a model for negotiations with suppliers in other countries.
Company chairman Ove Moeberg told Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten newspaper: “If we can get away from the view that everyone is equal in a cooperative, all kinds of possibilities open up.”
The Arla spokesman declined to comment on the reports.
