Inside_Arla_04_UK

Inside Arla A MAGA ZI N E FO R A R L A FA RMER OW N ER S A BO U T YO U R COMPA N Y

Pronsfeld: Expanding to capture international growth PAGE 2

LactoFREE® taps into consumer trends PAGE 12

Making an impact in the democracy PAGE 20

Big5: Making the most from protein PAGE 8

JUNE / 2022

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18

Big5: Less protein – same yield

“We need to unite around our owners”

Peter Kragsig reduced cost and carbon footprint without compromising his output.

New Agriculture function ramping up to support farmer owners and help share knowledge.

20 Josien is ready to make an impact Passion for dairy and the cooperative idea drives Josien Niessen. She is one of 40 farmer owners new to the Board of Representatives.

2 Pronsfeld: Growing to meet global demand We pay a visit to Pronsfeld where a new powder tower plays a key part in reaching the targets in Future26.

Editorial

Dear farmer owner

As we enter the second half of 2022, we continue to face – on farm and in the business – the effects of the terrible war in Ukraine, price inflation, a volatile energy market and worldwide supply chain issues.

But even as we work hard to handle these extraordinary circumstances, it’s important to remember that the long-term drivers and opportunities for our industry remain.

Firstly, demand for dairy and the nutritional benefits it offers is still set to increase to help feed a growing world population. With our Future26 strategy, we have set out to capture these opportunities as we develop and invest in our business. One example is the expansion of the dairy in Pronsfeld featured in this issue. An expansion that will enable us to grow our international business to deliver the goodness of dairy to more people and return more value to you as owners.

Another constant is the need for progress on sustainability – in our company operations and on farm. Regardless of the current challenges, the market for sustainable products is still growing and the demand for more action and transparency remains strong. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of you all we are in a strong position today, but we need to work hard to continue to lead for the future.

As you know, work on a sustainability incentive to encourage and help finance the next steps is on-going. We look forward to sharing more with you over the coming months. And there are many other steps we are taking – some of them covered in this magazine – from trialing feed additives to working with the Big5 levers to lower climate impact.

I hope you enjoy the read and wish you all the best for the summer.

PEDER TUBORGH CEO

12 Our Iconic brands: Arla Tapping into a growing consumer trend, Arla’s LactoFREE® brand has doubled revenue in the last five years.

Investing in the future of dairy

Pronsfeld:

Towering ambitions for international growth With the extensive expansion of the Pronsfield dairy - including a new powder tower - the site is set to meet a growing global demand.

Investing in the future of dairy

Pronsfeld dairy, situated in the western most part of Germany near the border with Belgium, now covers 55 hectares.

Investing in the future of dairy

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The added capacity allows us to fully utilise the high-quality milk from our farmers in the region and meet a growing demand for nutritious dairy products all around the world – creating more value for our farmer owners

It was big before – and it just got even bigger. In a massive three-year construction project, Arla’s largest production site in Pronsfeld, Germany has been expanded to meet a growing international demand for high-quality dairy products.

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With its long shelf life, milk powder is particularly suitable for Arla’s international markets, where milk powder is an important part of the local diet, especially in fast-growing urban areas. In international markets such as the Middle East, West Africa and Southeast Asia, the demand for affordable, nutritious dairy products exceeds local production as well as local supply.

Located among wooded hills in Western Germany, close to the Belgium border, the Pronsfeld site is vast. It now covers 55 hectares, the equivalent of 77 football fields.

That makes it not only Arla’s largest site worldwide, but one of the largest milk plants in Europe.

The Pronsfeld site also specialises in other long-life dairy products, including drinking milk, cream, milk-based beverages, sour cream butter and spreads. Pronsfeld also produces products for the food industry, including milk powder used in the manufacturing of chocolate or baked goods.

At the centre of the expansion sits the new powder drying tower – the second on site – reaching a height of 51 meters. It is capable of processing 685 million kg of milk per year. Enough to produce 90,000 tons of milk powder.

Focus on sustainability

The extension of the Pronsfeld dairy includes several sustainability and energy efficiency measures. This includes a new setup for electricity and heat generation which will reduce the carbon footprint and electricity consumption with about 1,800 megawatt hours of electricity and about 1,200 tons of CO2 per year for the whole dairy site compared to a traditional cooling solution.

Supporting international growth

The expansion of the site will support the expected annual growth in branded volume in Arla’s international business, currently estimated at 5-7%. Making it central to fulfilling Arla’s Future26 strategy, as Executive Vice President David Boulanger, Head of Arla’s Supply Chain explains:

“This is a crucial step in the evolution of our manufacturing footprint towards more efficient and decarbonised dairy production, building on our strengths here in Germany, and leveraging the latest technologies. This sets the standards for our future generation of assets that will support our new strategy to be a leader in value creation and sustainability,” says David Boulanger.

“Investing in Pronsfeld is a key part of building the longterm future of Arla. The added capacity allows us to fully utilise the high-quality milk from our farmers in the region and meet a growing demand for nutritious dairy products all around the world – creating more value for our farmer owners,” says David Boulanger.

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PRONSFELD BY NUMBERS The site employs around

1,000

FULL TIME EMPLOYEES

Exporting worldwide to around

70 COUNTRIES Approx.

1.5

Processed in 2021

BILLION KG OF MILK

Milk supplied by Arla farmer owners in Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Luxembourg and Belgium with Wallonia and Flanders

HOW IS MILK POWDER MADE? RAW MILK

MILK POWDER

The raw milk is heated and centrifuged to kill unwanted bacteria.

Additional nutrients can be added if wanted.

The milk is led down pipes heated with steam from the outside, reducing it to a siruplike substance.

The milk is then sprayed via nozzles into a high-temperature pressurised chamber, transforming it from liquid to powder.

The site’s new power tower (grey, on the right) has the capacity to process 685 million kg of milk per year.

EXPANSION OF PRONSFELD CAPACITY OF NEW DRYING TOWER:

685

MILLION KG OF MILK PER YEAR

(approx. 90,000 tons of milk powder)

HEIGHT OF TOWER:

51 METERS

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CONSTRUCTION SITES

on the entire site over the course of the project. Including expansion of the milk collection area and milk tanks to the energy supply and energy usage by 2030.

Investing in the future of dairy

International demand for Pronsfeld’s products Products from Arla’s dairy in Pronsfield reach consumers all over the world with exports from the site reaching approximately 70 countries. Countries such as Nigeria and Bangladesh, are two are of Arla’s largest markets for milk powder and both are set to continue to grow, as Simon Stevens, Executive Vice President and Head of Arla Foods International explains:

“Nigeria is already our biggest powder market today with sales of 116 million Euro in 2021, and we are continuing to win market shares with our very strong Arla Dano® brand,” he says, explaining that a successful marketing campaign has increased interest in the brand further.

However, the Nigerian dairy sector can only supply less than 10 % of the country’s demand for dairy products, a gap that is expected to grow as the population increases.

Overall, Arla’s revenue in the country increased by 45% from 2020 to 2021.

Later this year, Arla is completing a farm in Nigeria to support the local transformation in agriculture.

“We have a great frontline with employees going the extra mile to ensure Arla continues to win

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With a population of 165 million and the secondfastest growing GDP in Asia there is lots of potential for the products from Pronsfeld

Bangladesh set to grow

“Combined with growing consumer demand in the country for affordable dairy nutrition, and a population of 205 million people forecast to double by 2050, there is enormous potential for growth.”

up further this year, says Simon Stevens.

Another key market for the products manufactured at Pronsfeld is Bangladesh. Earlier this year, the Arla Dano® brand underlined its strong position by winning the award for “Most Loved dairy brand” at the Best Brand Awards in Bangladesh for the seventh year running.

A yearly growth of around 10 % has been the norm in recent years, but in 2021, Arla’s business in the country grew by 25 %, growth that is speeding

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market share. And, with a population of 165 million people and the second-fastest growing GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita in Asia, there is lots of potential for the products from Pronsfeld,” says Simon Stevens.

To meet demand for dairy in the country, Arla is also building a UHT milk plant in Bangladesh, which will open in 2023. This will also take milk powder from Pronsfield.

Big5

Arla farmer owner Peter Kragsig Kristensen was surprised when he saw the effect of adapting the protein content in his feed; improved economy and a lower carbon footprint

Lower protein content, yet same yield. In short, that was the result when Danish farmer owner Peter Kragsig took part in a pilot project on protein efficiency.

Adjusting the protein content or protein efficiency is part of Arla’s work on the Big5 – the most impactful areas of farm management that can reduce our carbon footprint, according to our farmer owners Climate Check data.

The right amount of protein can optimise milk production and reduce nitrogen discharge. By purchasing less concentrates, which often have a high climate impact, a farm’s climate impact can also be reduced.

These results were confirmed at Peter Kragsig’s organic farm with 230 cows.

“I must admit I was expecting my yield to drop because I felt like my protein level was already relatively low. So, I was positively surprised when I found that I could maintain the same yield with less protein, particularly at a time when feed prices are so high,” he says.

As part of the pilot test, a new feed plan was developed in collaboration

with an expert from Danish agriculture knowledge entre Seges. This included reducing the content of raw protein in the feed by 4 % – from 170 to 164 grams per kilogram of dry matter. And, with the yield remaining stable, this meant a feed saving of 3 % per kilogram of milk.

“The financial side was a big part of signing up for me. I want a high yield, but not at any cost, and I am continuously looking at how I can reduce what I must buy from feed suppliers. There is great satisfaction

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the trial period he has continued to focus on reducing the use of bought protein.

In June, Peter hosted fellow farmer owners at his farm, where he and the feed expert shared what they learnt from the trial. The same type of farmhouse meetings will be conducted across the Arla network later in the year.

“It is a good setup. I, myself, benefit from talking to colleagues to get their advice on how we can optimise

I was positively surprised to be able to maintain the same yield with less protein, particularly at a time when feed prices are so high

in becoming more self-sufficient, and of course it is positive to see how it benefits the climate,” says Peter, whose homegrown feed includes lupin and broad beans. After

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on farm, so it was a positive experience to share what we have learnt.

That is one of the huge benefits that comes with being a cooperative business.”

Less protein meant better bottom line – and lower climate impact

FARMHOUSE MEETINGS TO SHARE BEST PRACTICE ON CLIMATE IMPROVEMENTS Farmhouse meetings, held from the Autumn and hosted

by Arla farmers, are to provide inspiration on how each individual farmer can best work with the Big5 levers to reduce their carbon footprint and improve efficiency.

They will include an introduction to the Big5 levers and begin with a particular focus on Protein Efficiency.

The meetings will also provide an opportunity to share your own experiences and challenges with fellow farmers, a feed expert and other advisors.

Once meetings are scheduled, you will find more information and the opportunity to sign up on Arla farmers.

WHAT ARE THE BIG5?

The Big5 have been identified in the Climate Check data as the most impactful farm management levers to improve climate performance on the farm. They are: FEED EFFICIENCY: More milk per feed input PROTEIN EFFICIENCY: Reduce protein surplus in feed rations ANIMAL ROBUSTNESS: Healthy cows F ERTILISER USE: Reduce nitrogen surplus from feed production LAND USE: Better crop yields

Our iconic brands

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Our iconic brands

Arla LactoFREE® doubles turnover:

The Arla brand captures new trends and needs across categories Arla Foods’ biggest strategic brand is the Arla brand which covers many different sub-brands across markets. One of the sub-brands that has captured a trend and a need amongst consumers, is Arla LactoFREE® - doubling its revenue in five years.

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Our iconic brands

The Arla® brand – Arla Foods’ largest with a turnover of 3.36 billion euros in 2021 – is also the most diverse, including cheese from Arla Buko®, infant formula from Arla Baby & Me® and sports nutrition from Arla® Protein.

Arla LactoFREE® has doubled its revenue in five years

There are several specific sub-brands that have been crucial to the Arla brand’s growth. One of them is Arla LactoFREE®, a wide range of dairy products that do not contain lactose, which were first launched in 2014 with a lactose-free semi-skimmed milk.

The many sub-brands and products allow the Arla® brand to reach different people and situations, while maintaining a strong, common identity, says Katie Reed, Vice President of the Arla® brand globally.

Over the past five years, the sub-brand has managed to capture a new trend in lactose-free nutrition and reacted to a lifestyle trend for wellness. The range of Arla LactoFREE® products cater to both lactose intolerant consumers unable to break down lactose, a type of sugar which is naturally present in milk, but it also caters to consumers who find that Arla LactoFREE® offers them wellness benefits.

“The breadth of the Arla brand is a huge strength because the variety of sub-brands meet so many different consumer needs. Whether they want a healthy snack or milk for their breakfast,” she says.

Sustainability and health are important growth factors

This journey has enabled the sub-brand to double its revenue in five years. And in 2021, Arla LactoFREE® sales grew by 10.9 % and had a turnover of 145 million euros making it the largest growth area among Arla sub-brands.

In 2021 alone, the Arla® brand grew by 4.4 %, helped by more home cooking during the pandemic. For the brand to continue to grow, sustainability will become ever more important, says Katie Reed, as Arla Foods’ sustainability initiatives, such as Climate Checks on farms and sustainable packaging, will continue to secure an important competitive advantage.

To be ‘free’ is trending

The boosted growth of Arla LactoFREE® reflects a more general trend, Katie Reed believes. Today, it is far from just the lactose-intolerant consumers that buy Arla LactoFREE® products. In fact, more than half of the Arla LactoFREE® consumers are not lactose-intolerant.

“Consumers’ concern about sustainability is increasing. So it is of crucial importance to their perception of the Arla brand and our products that we show them the concrete actions we are taking on forms and in our whole operations. As a cooperative, our Climate Checks can show the journey we are on.” says Katie Reed, and adds:

“Lactose-free products have become part of a wider health trend where it is popular for consumers to choose products that are ‘free-from’ something even if they don’t strictly need to for health reasons. We have managed to seize that trend, and I expect that it will only grow from here on,” says Reed.

“We need the consumers to be confident that Arla products are produced by farmers who care about health, taste and sustainability, so they won’t have to think twice to choose them at the supermarket”.

Therefore, Arla changed the communication strategy for Arla LactoFREE® in 2018 from being a solution for the lactose intolerant consumer to becoming a lifestyle brand for those who want to feel good.

To Katie Reed the focus on health also plays an important role for the growth of the Arla brand.

“The new communication increased sales and boosted our growth curve significantly,” says Katie Reed, and continues:

“The overall trend among consumers is that they want to live a healthy lifestyle. This places higher demands on the foods they eat and on us as producers. It is our purpose with the Arla brand to help people eat well – through our products and inspiration for healthy and sustainable lifestyle,” she says.

“The Arla LactoFREE® case has become a successful demonstration of how the Arla brand keeps on trends and spread them to a wider group of consumers. This approach holds a lot of promise. It will support that our dairy products stay relevant regardless of which new trends may come within food”.

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Our iconic brands

ARLA BRANDS The Arla brand has multiple sub-brands per market, including:

The Arla brand covers products including milk, yoghurt, cream, powder, butter and cheese

The Arla® brand is Arla Foods’ largest strategic brand based on revenue

It had a turnover of

3.36

BILLION EUROS IN 2021

The Arla brand is the dairy market leader in Denmark and Sweden The Arla brand grew by

The brand is present in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Southeast Asia, West Africa as well as many others

4.4% in revenue in 2021

ARLA LACTOFREE® Consists of

60 PRODUCTS spread across 14 product types

2x

doubled its revenue from 2017 to 2022

Revenue grew by

Turnover of

145

MILLION EUROS IN 2021

10.9% in 2021

To meet the growing demand for Arla LactoFREE® from consumers, Arla has invested in an expansion of the dairy in Settle, UK to gather more of production here.

Going forward, the Yorkshire dairy will produce most Arla LactoFREE® products for the UK market, reducing transport costs.

Short News

Short News 10,000 COWS IN FEED ADDITIVE PILOT TO REDUCE METHANE Farmer owners across Germany, Sweden and Denmark will be first in Arla to pilot the use of feed additive Bovaer® on their farms.

Research and on-farm trials have shown that the additive can reduce methane emissions by around 30 % with continued high animal welfare.

A total of 10,000 cows will be part of the first round of pilots.

Participating farmers will mix Bovaer® into the feed for their dairy cows, and Arla will collect milk samples for analysis and comparison to milk from dairy cows not fed the feed additive.

If preliminary findings are as expected, the plan is to double the pilot project to include 20,000 cows in 2023.

BIOGAS-POWERED FLEET OF TRUCKS IS GROWING 10 new Arla trucks in Denmark will soon become the latest addition to a growing fleet of biogas-fuelled vehicles, highlighting the potential of the fossil-free energy source.

By 2023, the target is to have 80 Arla trucks powered by biogas across the European markets, one of several solutions being trialed to transition Arla’s entire logistics setup to 100 % fossil free fuel. And, part of the efforts to meet the new target to cut 63 % of the greenhouse gas emissions from Arla’s production, logistics and energy usage by 2030.

The trucks already in operation in Denmark have shown that manure from one cow - around 20 m3 a year - produces enough biogas to keep a truck running for 875 kilometres.

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WORK ON SUSTAINABILITY INCENTIVE CONTINUES To reward farmer owners for past sustainability action, motivate future action and to help cover the possible cost, the Board of Directors and the management are in the final phases of developing the new sustainability incentive model.

At the BoR meeting in May, CEO Peder Tuborgh explained how the aim is to develop a fair and flexible model that rewards both past and future action and includes plenty of options for all farmers to choose from.

TRAINING SESSIONS FOR REGENERATIVE NETWORK

The model under development will be point-based, so that selected performance and activities are rewarded with points and every point leads to a small amount of money on the milk price. The model will be science-based to motivate the most impactful, feasible and cost-efficient journey for farmer owners to deliver the 30% reduction target by 2030.

A prerequisite for receiving the incentive will be participating in Climate Checks, and actions that have the most positive impact on sustainability will lead to the most points - and therefore also the biggest financial incentive.

Arla’s network of regenerative pilot farms have been meeting -most recently in the UK (photo above) - on farm for training on the collection of measures they will take for the project. These include measuring the percentage of bare soil, sward diversity and soil infiltration rates.

For the training, farmer owners met with their local regenerative farming coach and will continue to work together to implement changes in practices that support improving the ecosystem and drive profitable and regenerative farming systems.

In addition to the practical on-farm measures, all pilot farms have submitted a mix of soil samples from across their farms that will undergo the latest soil testing by Eurofins, who will look at the amount of soil biology living the soil as well as other measures.

Local Regenerative Coach for Denmark, Annette Vibeke Vestergaard from SEGES comments:

“The early results we are starting to see from the soil samples are really interesting. Especially when looking at the measures of carbon, bacteria and funghi in the soil. I am really excited to work with the pilot farms on using this data to drive improvements in soil health” An update on the results and on-farm trials in year one of this project will be shared with all Arla farmers towards the Autumn.

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DAIRY TALES

Better support on the sustainability journey, more knowledgesharing between farmer owners and a stronger link to the advisor community are key targets for the Agriculture team.

“We need to win with our farmer owners; helping meet their needs in an efficient way and working together to deliver on our Future26 strategy,” says Graham Wilkinson, Vice President for Agriculture in Arla. Earlier this year, the function was restructured and more resources are being added.

“The great work our owners are doing on farm has never been more important to Arla’s success. Their farming practices and the value this adds is crucial for us to reach our targets and ultimately return as much value as possible. So we need to build a setup that supports their efforts in the best possible way,” says Graham Wilkinson.

their experience from working with protein efficiency. The first of the Big5 levers with the potential to reduce the carbon foot-print across farm types and regions.

Wilkinson also mentions the benefits of the newly established Sustainability Working Group, consisting of farmer owners from across regions.

“The group gives that close connection to help guide our next steps on sustainability; what we should be doing and how we should be doing it to provide the best solutions to our owners.”

Joint effort on advisory

Combined with input from the member survey and discussions with elected representatives, this has meant the function is now structured around three areas; Democracy/Farm Management, Sustainability and Commercialisation.

The change has aligned support functions across countries, added more resources to the market based teams and brought together the expertise within the department on agriculture and sustainability.

“We employ and are able to attract some of the best people in the industry, and they are enthusiastic about working with our farmers owners on the important agendas in Arla. I believe the changes will help us support and work stronger together as one team with our farmer owners”.

Learning from the best

Continuing to improve also means facilitating sharing best practice, farmer to farmer, says Graham Wilkinson: “Arla’s farmers are world-class, and their experience is a great asset to the cooperative. So it will be a priority in much of our work to enable farmers to share their knowledge more widely across Arla.”

One example of this will be undertaking farmhouse meetings that will take place across all regions during the second half of this year. A full programme is being developed, however, this is where, amongst other sustainability areas, farmer owners will be sharing

The collaborative approach will also be applied as Arla aims to work more closely with the advisory community.

“Advisors play a key role for many owners and it is clear that we need to be closer to that community, not least when it comes to sustainability. We need to be aligned to make it as easy for our farmer owners to decide which steps are right for them. So we will be working to ensure the advisor community understand our programmes and ambitions. That way we can unite around our farmer owners in a joint effort to reach our targets.”

Pride in the progress

The Agriculture function also plays a key role in linking the work on farm to society – from farm events and new milk concepts for consumers to maintaining strong programmes like Arlagården and Climate Checks. As demands from politicians and expectations from customers will continue to increase.

“We need to show decision-makers how we continue to improve, and demonstrate to consumers why we are a brand they can trust – how our farmers are doing the right thing day in, day out,” he says.

“There is so much interest in how modern dairy farming works – we shouldn’t see this as a threat but as an opportunity for us to show what we do. We have lots to be proud of.”

Winning together:

“We need to unite around our owners” 19

DEMOCRACY

STEPPING INTO A NEW ROLE Two programmes are designed to give the 40 new members of the Board of Representatives (BoR) a good start in their new role.

BoR Kick In In April, the new members were invited to join the “BoR Kick In”.

Held over two days, in Aarhus, the event provided an in-depth look at Arla’s strategy and business performance, and allowed members to build networks and share knowledge of Arla’s democracy and the role and responsibilities of the Board of Representatives.

Mentor Programme At the BoR meeting in May, each newly elected representative was paired with a mentor, an experienced member from a different owner country. This is part of a two-year mentor programme, which aims to give newly elected representatives a greater understanding of the role and way of working within the BoR as well as other owner areas. The ambition is that both the mentor and the mentee benefit through a broader network, improved English language skills and knowledge of a different market and culture.

You can find the members of the Board of Representatives (as well as the Board of Directors, District Councils, and various committees) on Arla farmers.

Go to: More > Democracy > Elected Catalogue

THE BOARD OF REPRESENTATIVES • Elections to Arla’s Board of Representatives are held every two years (postponed from 2021 to 2022 due to the coronavirus outbreak) • 175 members plus 12 employee representatives • 40 new members among farmer owners elected this year The Board of Representatives elects Arla’s Board of Directors, which consists of 14 farmer owners, three employee representatives, and two external advisers who from this year on will serve as full members of the Board of Directors.

Participants at the BoR “Kick In’’ for new members.

Elections for district councils were held at the same time. 118 new members were elected out of the total of 496 members.

DEMOCRACY

“I’m with Arla because of the democratic leadership” As a newly elected member on the Board of Representatives, Josien Niessen from Belgium looks forward to asserting her influence. She wants to help secure the future of agriculture through well thought out decisions based on the everyday reality of the farmers. It is her firm belief that the green transition can lead to higher growth for Arla.

“Being part of the Board of Representatives really makes a difference to me. To meet with other farmers and talk about our day-to-day problems while also focusing on the big picture, is just wonderful. I feel a responsibility to contribute to the longer-term decisions that can make our lives, as farmers, easier while supporting the green transition,” says Josien Niessen.

March 30th was a very good day for Josien Niessen.

The 47-year-old farmer from Belgium was elected to the Board of Representatives and became one of 40 new members joining Arla’s governing body.

“Part of reason for being with Arla is that it is a company with a democratic leadership style that is firmly rooted in the cooperative movement. So, it seems natural for me to try and take on more responsibility. It is a great honour to be elected and I am really happy and proud” says Josien Niessen.

The strengths of agriculture

To Josien Niessen, the reduction of CO2 emissions remains the biggest challenge for agriculture in the upcoming years. She sees part of her role to help counter the negative coverage of the profession, supporting a narrative about how Arla’s owners are already very efficient and continue to improve.

Niessen, who is Dutch-born, has run a 115-hectare farm in Belgium with her husband since 1999. They have 175 dairy cows, 130 calves and 250 goats, which they also milk.

“It annoys me to see how people without real knowledge comment in the media on our industry. So, one of my focus points will be to help spread stories about what is really going on in agriculture, providing my point of view for them to understand the work we put into the green transition,” says Josien Niessen.

“When I go for an evening walk on my farm with our dogs and take a look around the land, my heart just fills with pride and joy. So, basically, I am a very happy farmer, as we do our best to produce something essential while working with nature” says Josien Niessen.

“We have seen massive changes in the past 10 years and will see even greater ones in the next 10, as agriculture adapts along with the rest of society. This said, our biggest challenge is also our biggest opportunity. We have already come far and are among the world leaders in terms of low CO2 emissions. We stand ready and willing to embrace change, and we should take advantage of all the special opportunities that being a part of Arla gives us” says Josien Niessen.

A child of the cooperative idea

As a child, Josien Niessen would join her father at district meetings of the local cooperative dairy, so both farm life and democratic participation are deeply ingrained in her.

It is natural for her to participate, get her views across and seek influence. Making sure that the interests of the smaller farms in Belgium are represented including, how desk time can be reduced in favour of more time in the stables or how Arla can hold onto their farmers even if other companies may pay more and sharing perspectives on the challenges of the green transition.

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Inside Arla is the magazine for Arla’s owners about your company. The magazine is published in six languages.

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