Arla Foods has newly announced it will build a groundbreaking innovation centre in Nr. Vium, Denmark to unleash the wonders of whey in the dairy industry.
As part of Arla Foods Ingredients, the new centre will be enable leading scientists and innovators to discover and develop new ways of using milk and whey to serve the needs of the world’s growing population.
Arla’s core belief in innovation will be key to unlocking the future of dairy. Their ambition to reach this was demonstrated when Arla opened its Innovation Centre (AIC) in Skejby, Denmark last year. With the €36.3 million investment, Arla is now creating a hub for research and development innovation within whey and milk based ingredients.
CEO of Arla Foods, Peder Tuborgh explained: “The world’s population is growing, which increases the need for healthy and sustainable food. It is a big challenge, and in Arla we want to be part of the solution. We know that dairy nutrition can play an important role in securing a healthy and balanced diet for people across the world, and with this innovation centre we will use cutting edge research and technology to explore milk and whey to their full potential as ingredients for a wide range of nutrition.”
Expected to open in 2021, the investment into the innovation centre was approved by Arla Foods’ Board of Directors, supporting the company’s strategic focus on innovation. The centre will be part of Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI), the Arla subsidiary that has transformed whey from what was once considered a waste product to premium, high quality ingredients used for infant nutrition, clinical nutrition, sports nutrition, health foods, other foods and drink products.
Group Vice President in Arla Foods Ingredients, Henrik Andersen said: “Our customers are always looking for new solutions to adapt to changing consumer demands. Our focus is to explore all the components in the milk and whey and combine them to enhance the nutritional or functional value of a product. Together with our customers, we will explore this even further in our new innovation centre to help them develop new products that meet the specific nutritional needs of children, athletes, patients and consumers.”
The innovative centre will be constructed in Nr. Vium, Denmark which is closely located to Arla Foods Ingredients’ largest production site, Danmark Protein, generating a unique environment for process development and pilot production. At the centre, scientists, technicians and innovators will together cover all aspects of research and development within whey and milk – from advanced separation technologies to isolate specific components of the whey or milk, to heat treatment and pasteurisation technology to improve functionality and shelf-life.
At the moment, approximately 70 scientists, technicians and engineers are working with innovation in AFI, but according to Henrik Andersen, the new innovation centre will provide further opportunities: “The colleagues working with innovation in AFI are among the most talented in the world and it is our ambition to continue to attract the very best calibre of colleagues that share our mission of discovering and delivering all the wonders whey can bring to people’s lives. This will be an exciting place to work with the most challenging development projects in the dairy industry,” Henrik Andersen says.
The 9,000 square metre facility with open office spaces, labs and a pilot plant, will start to be built in the second half of 2019 with completion set for 2021.