Arla has confirmed that is has stopped production of dairy products for the Russian market, after Russia banned food products from the EU.
A spokesman for Arla, Thies Broegger, has said the Danish/Swedish co-operative will be affected by the Russian ban on EU dairy products. “We have stopped production of products to Russia,” he said.
The co-op said its annual sales in Russia were worth in the region of €135 million, most of this based around butter and cheese sales. The €135 million is the equivalent of less than 2% of the co-ops total global revenue it said.
The company’s current volume of 12.7 billion kilogrammes of milk is the largest cooperative milk volume in Europe. Arla Foods is a co-operative owned by 13.500 dairy farmers and is the seventh largest dairy company in the world.
Previously its sales were affected when a boycott of Danish products was imposed by the Middle East in 2006 over a satire cartoon of Muhammed in a Danish newspaper.
Earlier this week Russia announced a ban on all beef, pork, poultry, fish, dairy, cheese and vegetables from the EU and other countries including the US, Australia and Canada.
Meanwhile, Dacian Ciolos, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, has called for a meeting of agricultural experts across Europe to discuss a the Russian ban on european food and look at possible supports