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29 January 2025

Daily Newsletter

29 January 2025

Arla Foods discontinues Jörd alt-milk brand in UK

Jörd, launched in 2020, marked Arla’s first move into milk alternatives.

Andy Coyne January 28 2025

Danish dairy major Arla Foods has pulled its Jörd alt-milk brand from UK retail shelves, it has confirmed.

Arla launched Jörd in 2020 – its first foray into plant-based milk alternatives – but it was controversial move for a business owned by dairy farmers. The co-op’s executives had also publicly opposed the plant-based challenge to dairy products.

The company has not expanded on its reasons for the move but questions will be asked about its performance in what is a highly-competitive category.

It is understood the range has already been removed from the shelves of UK supermarket chains Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

In a brief statement sent to Just Food confirming the move, an Arla Foods spokesperson said: “As a cooperative, we are constantly looking for ways to drive the greatest value for our farmer owners and we have made the decision to make a strategic shift and refocus the Arla Jörd product range for the foodservice channel. This means that we will no longer offer Arla Jörd as a retail product in the UK.”

A Barista version of the product will still be available to the foodservice channel in the UK “but it won’t appear under the Arla Jörd brand,” the spokesperson confirmed.

The Arla Jörd brand will also “maintain a retail and foodservice presence” in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, with its barista offering.

When Arla launched Jörd, it said: “In recent years, an increasing number of consumers are looking for plant-based products and the trend is set to continue. Therefore, Arla has decided to enter the market for plant-based products to meet consumer demand and to develop the category with natural products and unique flavour compositions.”

The co-op relaunched the range in February last year as Arla Jörd with new packaging and a reformulated recipe. The range comprised three oat drinks, the Arla Jörd Oat Barista, as well as two oat-based fermented products. Only the Barista line remains.

Arla originally launched Jörd with three oat drinks: Oat; Oat & Hemp; and Oat & Barley.

The group recorded revenue of €6.6bn ($6.87bn) in the first half of 2024, down 6.5% year-on-year. EBITDA was up from €399m to €512m.

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