Arla Foods to double mozzarella cheese production at Danish facility

Arla Foods has unveiled plans to double the production of mozzarella cheese by expanding its Branderup Dairy in Denmark.

The company will make an investment of €80m ($88m) to boost production capacity at the facility and meet the growing demand for its mozzarella cheese products.

To boost production, Arla Foods will also make use of new technology at the Branderup Dairy facility.

Arla Foods Supply Chain executive vice-president Sami Naffakh said: “We are very pleased with the expansion of Branderup Dairy.

“An expansion of this size places Arla in the forefront as one of the world’s leading producers of mozzarella cheese and gives us the opportunity to build on that position as a supplier of high quality mozzarella in Europe, Asia, USA and the Middle East.”

The expansion works are expected to begin in 2020 and will see installation of expanded milk weighing, silo inventory, processing area and storage capacity.

Setting up a new cheese production line is also part of the plan to increase mozzarella production by 53 million kilos annually.

Once completed, the Branderup Dairy will have the capacity to produce 91 million kilos of mozzarella per year.

Additionally, the expansion will see the creation of 25 jobs at the facility.

Currently, Arla produces its mozzarella cheese at Branderup and Rødkærsbro Dairies, and from here the cheese is exported to 100 countries across the globe.

Arla Mozzarella Production senior director Rene Nørgaard said: “We are very proud of our production of high-quality mozzarella at Branderup Dairy and it is a very gratifying that growing demand for our products now means that we must more than double our production.

“It helps create the future of dairy and I am happy for Arla, the dairy and our farmer-owners. At Arla, we work with sustainability in all aspects of dairy products from the farm to the consumer.

“We also assume this responsibility at Branderup Dairy and therefore we aim to reuse as much water as possible, and will use the latest energy-optimised equipment for the expansion.”