Arla Foods

Arla Foods is a dairy cooperative with its head office in Viby J near Aarhus, Denmark. It was formed in 2000 by the merger of the Swedish cooperative Arla and the Danish MD Foods, and it traces its roots to farmer cooperatives founded in Denmark and Sweden in the 1880s. Arla is owned by dairy farmers in several European countries, and from 1 June 2026 it has merged with the German DMK Group.

Cheese range

• Castello: Danish specialities such as blue and white mould cheeses
• Dofino and further Arla cheeses for everyday use
• Arla Pro cheeses for food service and bakeries

Cheese is only one part of the portfolio. Arla also sells butter (Lurpak), milk, yoghurt and ingredients.

Ownership

The farmers who deliver the milk own the company, and each owner has a vote in the cooperative. There is no outside shareholder or non-European parent. Arla is large and industrial, so the cheeses are standardised rather than regional specialities.