Arla Meals Nigeria, the maker of Dano Milk, is marking its tenth anniversary this week, highlighting a decade of enlargement in Africa’s most populous nation whereas deepening its wager on native milk manufacturing to scale back the nation’s reliance on imports.
The Danish farmer-owned cooperative, which entered the Nigerian market in 2015, has invested closely in each shopper merchandise and backward integration, constructing one of the crucial superior dairy farms in West Africa.
From its Lagos-based manufacturing facility in partnership with Tolaram Group to its 300-hectare Arla-Dano farm in Kaduna, the corporate has sought to steadiness industrial development with assist for smallholder farmers and broader authorities ambitions for meals self-sufficiency.
“Marking 10 years in Nigeria is each humbling and provoking for us as we mirror on our journey and achievements, regardless of many challenges,” Peder Pedersen, managing director of Arla Meals Nigeria, mentioned on the anniversary occasion in Lagos.
“From our very first day, we got down to not solely convey trusted manufacturers like Dano and Lurpak to Nigerian households, but in addition to play an energetic position in constructing the native dairy trade.”
Learn additionally: Nigeria needs to overhaul dairy farming to cut $1.5bn milk import – MD, Arla Foods
Nigeria spends an estimated $1.5 billion yearly on dairy imports, in line with authorities knowledge, with native manufacturing overlaying lower than 40% of demand. Arla’s enlargement goals to chip away at that hole. The Damau farm in Kaduna, which acquired its first cargo of 215 Holstein heifers from Denmark in 2023, has capability for 1,000 cows and is designed as a hub for know-how switch and farmer coaching.
Pedersen mentioned Arla is partnering with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the newly created Ministry of Livestock Improvement, and state governments to develop a extra self-reliant dairy sector.
Since 2019, the corporate has skilled about 1,000 farmers in northern Nigeria on animal welfare, feed administration, and productiveness enhancements, serving to to lift yields in a sector lengthy dominated by nomadic pastoralism.
The ten-year celebration coincides with Arla Meals’ twenty fifth anniversary globally, underscoring its cooperative heritage. Owned by 8,400 farmers throughout Europe, Arla has more and more turned to rising markets corresponding to Nigeria to gas development. Dano powdered milk has grow to be one of the crucial recognised manufacturers in Nigerian households, competing with world rivals like Nestlé’s Nido and FrieslandCampina’s Peak.
Arla’s native operations make use of lots of of employees and are poised for additional enlargement. The corporate plans to launch a yogurt manufacturing facility in Kaduna in 2025, utilizing contemporary milk sourced solely from its farm and companion farmers. It additionally inaugurated its first “open farm day” in 2024, opening the Damau facility to farmers, college students, and stakeholders as a middle of dairy excellence.
“As we have a good time our tenth 12 months in Nigeria alongside Arla Meals’ twenty fifth anniversary globally, we glance to the longer term with confidence,” Pedersen mentioned. “We are going to proceed to strengthen our influence regionally, assist dairy farmers, and ship tasty and nutritious dairy merchandise for generations to return.”
For Arla, the anniversary is much less about wanting again than about positioning itself as a long-term companion in Nigeria’s agricultural transformation. With demand for dairy projected to maintain rising alongside inhabitants development, the corporate is betting that funding in native capability will safe its place in a aggressive and politically delicate market.
