Today, Arla officially opened its plant in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, which, it says, is the largest and most technologically-advanced liquid milk processing site in the world.

Arla has invested over £500 million in the UK since 2007 and commenced building the Aylesbury site in February 2012. The £150 million state-of-the-art dairy, it says, is the world’s largest fresh milk facility with the most technologically advanced and efficient processing, and an ambition to be zero carbon when it reaches full capacity.

The plant has the capacity to produce 1.5 million bottles of milk a day, or 240,000 litres of milk a day, which will be supplied by some 900 dairy farmers. At full capacity the plant’s 16 silos can hold 4.8 million litres of milk, has six processing sections which can process 240,000 litres per hour and has 150 lorries on the road supplying milk to it every day.

According to Arla the plant is part of its expansion plans and today it has a UK turnover of £27 million. 

Peter Lauritzen, CEO, Arla Foods, said: “Our Aylesbury dairy is the largest single investment for the cooperative and, as market leader, Arla is setting the future standard for the dairy industry.”

The plant started operation in November 2013, but finishing touches were still being made to it and it was officially opened today by the British Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson.