Press release -
Arla farmers get on board to save the British cheese sandwich
Arla farmer-owners in the UK are getting behind the Anchor Cheddar campaign ‘the cheese sandwich needs you’ to tell their story as owners of the country’s largest dairy company.
The traditional cheese sandwich is in decline, according to a survey of 2,000 adults by British cheese brand, Anchor® Cheddar. The survey conducted by YouGov¹ looked into the nation’s eating habits and discovered that although we place cheese as our favourite nostalgic sandwich, we just aren’t tucking into them that often. In fact, 55 per cent of those surveyed had not eaten a cheese sandwich the previous week.
The survey also found that consumers are still keen to buy British to support farmers. When asked about our nations buying habits, 72 per cent said, if given the option, they would always buy 100 per cent British produce to support the nation’s farmers.
From Plymouth to Perth, Arla farmers will be out and about over the next few months urging shoppers to rediscover their love for the Cheddar cheese sandwich and buy a farmer-owned Cheddar brand as the second phase of Arla’s Support our Farmers* campaign commences.
The specially-branded Anchor Cheddar bus will be touring 100 towns and cities across the UK, handing out cheese sandwiches to shoppers who sign a petition to save it. The campaign kicked-off last night with a projection of the Anchor Cheddar campaign logo on the side of iconic London landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament.
Arla has 13,500 farmer-owners across Europe and one in four British dairy farmers (circa 3,000) is an owner of the Arla cooperative, with 100 per cent of the profits paid back to them. A network of Arla farmers is supporting the campaign by joining the tour and distributing leaflets to almost a million shoppers, highlighting how buying Arla branded products can benefit farmers during a period of lower milk prices.
Ash Amirahmadi, head of milk and member services at Arla, says:
“Our farmer-owners want to be able to meet consumers face to face to promote their British brands and spread the word that Arla is a farmer-owned business.
“We believe that the British public wants to help dairy farmers, so I urge shoppers to go out and reignite their love for the cheese sandwich, and support our farmers in the process.”
Ends
Notes to editors
1 A survey of 2,000 adults’ eating habits was conducted by YouGov on 23 December 2014
*In October 2014, Arla launched the ‘Support our Farmers’ campaign to encourage shoppers to buy Arla dairy products, including Cravendale milk, Anchor and Lurpak butter and Castello cheeses. The campaign aims to demonstrate to the British public that buying Arla products benefits Arla farmer owners directly
Topics
Arla Foods is a global dairy company and co-operative owned by 13,500 dairy farmers circa 3,000 of whom are British.
Dating back to 1881, Arla’s purpose is to secure the highest value for its farmers’ milk, while creating opportunities for their growth. With production facilities in 11 countries and sales offices in a further 30, Arla is the world’s sixth largest dairy company and largest supplier of organic dairy products. Arla has a total of more than 18,000 colleagues and its products are sold under the well-known brands Arla®, Lurpak® and Castello® in more than 100 countries.
Arla Foods UK is the largest dairy company in the country and is home to leading dairy brands Anchor, Cravendale, and Lactofree. It processes 3.5 billion litres of milk a year and has a turnover of £2.2 billion. As well as being number one in fresh liquid milk, butter, spreads and cream, Arla is the UK’s largest cheese manufacturer. It has also built the world’s largest fresh milk facility located at Aylesbury and has plans for it to be the first zero carbon site of its kind. The UK business has a team of approximately 4,000 colleagues located at its dairies, distribution centres and head office.
