Talk:Arla Foods

Edit request
Hi Wikipedians,

I have a COI as an employee of Arla Foods (read more on my user page). I would like to suggest the following updates to the article and corresponding additions to its reference list. These statements reflect up-to-date information about the company, supported by independent sources.

Current content:

Arla Foods is the seventh largest dairy company in the world measured by turnover. Among the cooperative dairy companies Arla is the third largest in the world. At the start of 2010, 7,625 Danish and Swedish cooperative members owned the cooperative.

Updated content:

Arla Foods is the fourth largest dairy company in the world (https://www.esmmagazine.com/arla-now-worlds-fourth-biggest-dairy-firm/29716). At the start of 2016, 12,500 farmers in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium owned the cooperative. (http://www.reuters.com/article/arla-foods-amba-production-idUSL5N1FK4CG)

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about this.

Thanks in advance,

A8260 (talk) 08:31, 7 March 2017 (UTC)
 * ✅ Altamel (talk) 02:00, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110611145831/http://www.cbbc.org/the_review/review_archive/analysis/25.html to http://www.cbbc.org/the_review/review_archive/analysis/25.html

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External links modified
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Updating History section
Hi Wikipedians,

I have a COI as an employee of Arla Foods (read more on my user page). I would like to suggest the following content as a replacement of what's currently in the article's History section, as well as the corresponding additions to its reference list. These statements reflect up-to-date information about the company, supported by independent sources. Hopefully, this will ensure that the article has the appropriate citations for verification and the 'citations needed' warning can be removed. Let me know if you have any questions or if you require further info.

Back in the 1880’s, dairy farmers in Denmark and Sweden formed small cooperatives to invest in common dairy production facilities. The first co-operative dairy was established at Stora Arla Gaard in Västmanland under the name of Arla Mejeriforëning. By doing this the farmers made efficient use of their milk, which resulted in higher quality products. The earnings they made from their milk were equally split between the dairy farmers.

The history of Arla Foods in Sweden

Arla’s history began when Landtmännens Mjölkförsäljningsförening was formed. The name was later changed to Mjölkcentralen (MC). Year by year a substantial number of larger and smaller dairies was merging with Mjölkcentralen and in connection with a number of mergers in the early 1970’s, it was proposed that the company should have a new, common name.


 * 1974: Registration of the name Mjölkcentralen Arla
 * 1975: Mjölkcentralen changes name to Arla and acquires its new logo: the Arla Cow

The history of Arla Foods in Denmark

The first co-operative in Denmark was established in Hjedding in 1882. In the following decades, the number of co-operative dairies rose dramatically.


 * 1945: There were 1,650 co-operative dairies in Denmark
 * 1970: Mejeriselskabet Danmark (MD) is established on October 1 by four dairy companies and three individual dairies
 * 1970s and 1980s: Various dairies and dairy companies across Denmark join Mejeriselskabet Denmark through mergers or acquisitions
 * 1978/79: The volume of milk exceeds 1 billion kg for the first time, and Arla accounts for 1/3 of the total Danish market in 1977
 * 1988: The company changes name to the more international MD Foods
 * 1989: MD Foods International A/S is formed for the purpose of acquiring dairies abroad
 * 1992: MD Foods and Denmark’s second largest dairy company, Kløver Mælk, sign a financially binding cooperation agreement. MD Foods International makes further acquisitions in the UK
 * 1999: MD Foods and Kløver Mælk merge to become MD Foods, gaining 90% of the Danish milk production

Arla Foods as it is known today

Over the years, the cooperative idea proved increasingly attractive. Small farmer cooperatives merged and became stronger. They expanded from local to regional to national cooperatives. In 2000, the largest Danish dairy cooperative merged with its Swedish counterpart and Arla Foods, the first cross-border dairy cooperative, was formed. The cooperative idea also flourished in other countries and through recent mergers cooperative owners in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg have joined Arla Foods.


 * 2000: Arla Foods amba is formed on April 17
 * 2001: On June 27, Arla Foods publishes a new five-year strategy plan which means the closure of 17 dairies in Denmark and Sweden and the redundancies of approx. 1,000 people
 * 2002: The cooperative members in Hellevad Omegns Andelsmejeri agree (63 votes for and 50 against) to a merger with Arla Foods with effect from 30 September 2002
 * 2005: The planned merger between Arla Foods and the Dutch Campina break down in April and Arla’s CEO Åke Modig leaves the company. Peder Tuborgh is appointed CEO in June
 * 2005: On August 26, Arla Foods and the Chinese dairy company, China Mengniu Dairy Company, begin a partnership for the production of powdered milk in the Chinese market
 * 2006: On January 27, Arla Foods buys the specialty dairy, White Clover Dairy in Wisconsin, USA. The purchase of Wisconsin-based White Clover Dairy, a company with 170 employees, on 26 January 2006, provided direct access to the U.S. market (White Clover had produced Arla products under license since 1998).
 * 2008: Arla Foods acquires Finnish Arla Ingman Oy AB which becomes a fully owned subsidiary
 * 2009: Hirtshals Co-operative Dairy joins Arla
 * 2009: Authorities approve: Arla Foods to buy Fresh Nijkerk from FrieslandCampina
 * 2011: Authorities approve: Arla Foods merger with German dairy company Hansa Milch
 * 2012: Arla Foods merges with Milch-Union Hocheifel in Germany and Milk Link in Great Britain
 * 2013: Arla opens the world's largest fresh milk plant in Aylesbury, UK.

'''Thanks in advance, A8260 (talk) 09:26, 17 July 2017 (UTC)'''
 * Lots of unsourced claims present within the edit request, such as "Back in the 1880’s...production facilities", "By doing this...between the dairy farmers", and "Over the years,...to national cooperatives", some sentences trying to pass off a source's opinion as facts, such as "In the following decades, the number of co-operative dairies rose dramatically", and possible indications of original research, such as "The cooperative idea also flourished in other countries...". In addition to that, you have included a lot of embedded lists within the text (in the form of timelines), which is unadvised - you should generally talk about things in prose. Overall, the edit request can't be implemented in its current form. Regards, VB00 (talk) 17:34, 19 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your feedback, Would the below text be better suited for the history section?
 * In the 1880’s, dairy farmers in Denmark and Sweden formed small cooperatives to invest in common dairy production facilities. The first cooperative dairy was established in Sweden at Stora Arla Gaard in Västmanland under the name of Arla Mejeriforëning, and the first Danish cooperative dairy was established in Hjedding in 1882.
 * On 1 October 1970, Mejeriselskabet Danmark (MD) was established by four dairy companies and three individual dairies . In 1988, the company changed name to MD Foods. In 1992, MD Foods and Denmark’s second largest dairy company, Kløver Mælk, signed a financially binding co-operation agreement, and in 1999, the two companies merged to become MD Foods, gaining 90 per cent of the Danish milk production.
 * In 2000, MD Foods merged with Swedish Arla and formed Arla Foods amba with headquarter in MD Foods in Aarhus, Denmark, and became Arla Foods as it is known today.


 * A8260 (talk) 08:55, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Reformatted: Updating the History section based on editor feedback
Hi Wikipedians,

I have a COI as an employee of Arla Foods (read more on my user page). I would like to suggest the following updates to the History section of article and corresponding additions to its reference list, based on the input received above. These statements reflect up-to-date information about the company, supported by independent sources and should replace the existing content available in the History section. Hopefully, this will ensure that the article has the appropriate citations for verification and the 'citations needed' warning can be removed. Let me know if you have any questions or if you require further info.

In the 1880’s, dairy farmers in Denmark and Sweden formed small cooperatives to invest in common dairy production facilities. The first cooperative dairy was established in Sweden at Stora Arla Gaard in Västmanland under the name of Arla Mejeriforëning, and the first Danish cooperative dairy was established in Hjedding in 1882. On 1 October 1970, Mejeriselskabet Danmark (MD) was established by four dairy companies and three individual dairies. In 1988, the company changed name to MD Foods. In 1992, MD Foods and Denmark’s second largest dairy company, Kløver Mælk, signed a financially binding co-operation agreement, and in 1999, the two companies merged to become MD Foods, gaining 90 per cent of the Danish milk production. In 2000, MD Foods merged with Swedish Arla and formed Arla Foods amba with headquarter in MD Foods in Aarhus, Denmark, and became Arla Foods as it is known today.

A8260 (talk) 10:15, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Per: WP:CLOP. Text which is proposed to be added to an article must be in your own words. As these paragraphs form the basis for the timelines listed after them, the paraphrasing ought to be addressed first. Please feel free to rephrase the material accordingly, and resubmit the request at your earliest convenience. Regards,

❌ Please reformat your request and resubmit. Due to formatting issues, your request cannot be processed. The references for your latest request are still emplaced in text located in a previous edit request. Kindly reformat your request, placing the correct references with the most current edit request proposal. Please ensure the segregation of older reference sections from newer ones. Thank you.  Spintendo  ᔦᔭ   13:49, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick feedback,. I have now reformatted the section above containing the most current proposal and resubmitted. A8260 (talk) 14:45, 3 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your quick reply. So just to be sure, this text is to replace the entire timeline that is now under the History heading? In other words, is anything to be removed? Or is this text going on top of the timeline. Please advise.  Spintendo  ᔦᔭ   14:59, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Reply 03-JAN-2018
✅ Regards,  Spintendo  ᔦᔭ   15:39, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
 * 1) The text under History section was placed in the article, replacing the timeline information. CITENEED template deleted.
 * 2) I have placed the 2008 Chinese milk scandal under See also. The information that was in this article said nothing about the scandal itself, and was a distraction to understanding.
 * 3) The ingredients section is now wholly unreferenced. Unfortunately, this means that the CITENEED template just removed from the History section now finds itself ensconced in the Ingredients section.
 * 4) Much of the information which was located in the lead, I've placed in a new 'Current operations' subheading under 'History'. This makes the lead more succinct, and is chronologically correct, coming after the origins found in History.
 * 5) I believe the article is in a much better state now — it's visually appealing and much easier to read.

Reply 04-JAN-2018
Thank you very much for the updates and improvements, I would argue that the 'Ingredients' section could actually be removed, as it lists ingredients developed by 'Arla Foods Ingredients', which is an independent subsidiary of Arla Foods. This is discussed in the last paragraph under 'Current operations' where some of the ingredients are also mentioned.

Regards, A8260 (talk) 08:04, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

Removing the 'Ingredients' section
Hi Wikipedians,

Based on the feedback received during the latest round of edits to this article, I would suggest removing the 'Ingredients' section. As mentioned above, it lists ingredients developed by 'Arla Foods Ingredients', which is an independent subsidiary of Arla Foods. This is already covered in the last paragraph under 'Current operations'. What do you think?

Another minor edit: the link to 'Company history at Arla Foods website' should be removed, as the page has since been removed from the company website.

Thank you in advance! Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Regards, A8260 (talk) 12:40, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

✅   Spintendo  ᔦᔭ   13:24, 10 January 2018 (UTC)