Arla Foods' £150m "next-generation" dairy will be located on a 70-acre site in Aylesbury, The Grocer can exclusively reveal.
Since Arla announced its intention to build the dairy last November, it has remained tight-lipped as to the exact location.
The Grocer can now reveal that the dairy, which will process one billion litres of milk a year, will receive 750 tankers of milk a day, and will be located approximately 30km from London, enabling Arla to tap into the growing population of the capital.
Arla intends the dairy to be a zero-carbon processing facility and has a zero waste-to-landfill target, said Arla Foods CEO Peter Lauritzen. "We have seen big, efficient facilities opened recently at Stourton and at Bridgwater, but this is the next generation of modern-technology, environmental factories."
The dairy will use a mixture of environmental technologies such as natural lighting, re-use of rainwater and renewable energy and there will be a particular focus on water efficiency, which will allow Arla to produce milk that uses only 200ml of water per litre produced. Such environmental efficiencies would enable Arla to meet its parent company, Arla Foods amba's, and the UK government's energy reduction targets. The efficiencies also made economic sense, said Lauritzen. "It is important for us to be the lowest-cost producer."
Lauritzen denied rumours that Arla would seek to import milk to fulfil the dairy's requirement. "Somebody asked us if we were thinking of importing milk from the continent, but we are certainly not it's based on local British milk, with support from our British farmer-owners."
He also dismissed claims there were plans in place to close one or more of its other sites.
"Our structure has to be right and we have to be efficient but it's important to say there has been no decision whatsoever about plant closure."
Since Arla announced its intention to build the dairy last November, it has remained tight-lipped as to the exact location.
The Grocer can now reveal that the dairy, which will process one billion litres of milk a year, will receive 750 tankers of milk a day, and will be located approximately 30km from London, enabling Arla to tap into the growing population of the capital.
Arla intends the dairy to be a zero-carbon processing facility and has a zero waste-to-landfill target, said Arla Foods CEO Peter Lauritzen. "We have seen big, efficient facilities opened recently at Stourton and at Bridgwater, but this is the next generation of modern-technology, environmental factories."
The dairy will use a mixture of environmental technologies such as natural lighting, re-use of rainwater and renewable energy and there will be a particular focus on water efficiency, which will allow Arla to produce milk that uses only 200ml of water per litre produced. Such environmental efficiencies would enable Arla to meet its parent company, Arla Foods amba's, and the UK government's energy reduction targets. The efficiencies also made economic sense, said Lauritzen. "It is important for us to be the lowest-cost producer."
Lauritzen denied rumours that Arla would seek to import milk to fulfil the dairy's requirement. "Somebody asked us if we were thinking of importing milk from the continent, but we are certainly not it's based on local British milk, with support from our British farmer-owners."
He also dismissed claims there were plans in place to close one or more of its other sites.
"Our structure has to be right and we have to be efficient but it's important to say there has been no decision whatsoever about plant closure."
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