Four years after Anchor Cheddar was discontinued because it was not financially viable, Arla is bringing it back as it flexes its cheese supply chain following the merger with Milk Link.

Anchor mature (£4.50/350g) and extra mature (£4.75/350g) will launch into Tesco stores on 22 April. But whereas Anchor Cheddar used to be imported from New Zealand, this time Arla is going 100% British, making the cheese at its Llandyrnog site using British milk.

The move catapults Arla back into the notoriously competitive branded Cheddar category, where it will go head to head with fellow dairy heavyweight Dairy Crest and its market-leading Cathedral City brand.

When Arla discontinued Anchor Cheddar in the UK in 2009, it was the fifth biggest-selling Cheddar brand in the UK, with sales of £7.9m - compared with Cathedral City’s £180.2m [The Grocer’s Top Products Survey 2008/Nielsen MAT 4 October 2008]. “We didn’t see it as a great long-term return on investment,” a spokesman said at the time.

But Arla said it was confident Anchor Cheddar would holds its own this time around.

The Anchor brand already had a loyal following and was currently the UK’s third-largest butters and spreads brand, said Diane Wright, Anchor Cheddar brand manager. “With the addition of Cheddar to the portfolio and its solid base of consumers, Anchor Cheddar has the opportunity to grow the brand further.”

Arla intends to increase distribution beyond Tesco later this year. It had “big plans” for the future of Anchor Cheddar - including a strong pipeline of NPD, added Wright.

Speculation about a possible return of Anchor Cheddar has been mounting in recent years, as Arla increased its grip on the UK dairy market. However, Arla had consistently denied plans to relaunch it.

Last October, Arla merged with Milk Link, giving it access to Milk Link’s large cheese business, including the Tickler Cheddar brand.

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