Water regulator Ofwat has granted dairy giant Arla Foods self-supply water and sewerage licences.
This decision enables Arla Foods to provide retail services to itself and associated persons.
Owned by 12,000 dairy farmers, of which 2,500 are based in the UK, the company manufactures a wide range of products including milk, yoghurt, cream, and cheese.
The Leeds-based company made the application in October 2020.
Arla Foods has ten sites in England and produces household brands such as Cravendale, Anchor, Lurpak and Castello.
In their application, the company recognised that water is a vital part in manufacturing these products, from cleaning and disinfection processes for milk (transportation) tankers and milk bottles, through to ensuring the everyday running of its cooling towers.
The company also highlighted that despite the challenging market conditions caused by COVID-19, its brand had continued to grow and production levels had not dropped.
In their application the company also stated that having a self-supply licence will provide it with the requisite level of visibility, and the data and control it needs to focus and deliver on its strategy of protecting the environment and safeguarding its business from water scarcity.
To facilitate their application, Arla Foods entered into a partnership agreement with Waterscan to take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions, including meter reading, Central Market Operating System transactions, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings.
With this recent decision, Arla Foods joins other large UK companies, including Sainsburys, John Lewis and Kellogg’s, that have also been granted self-supply licenses across 2019 and 2020.
More information about Arla Foods’ Sewerage and Water Supply licenses is available on the Ofwat website.
