Arla Foods Ingredients sharpens “dairy in focus” strategy with US$46.3M retrofit investment in Denmark

Arla Foods Ingredients will invest nearly DKK 300 million (US$46.3 million) to rebuild and transform a spray-drying tower at the company’s Arinco dairy in Videbæk, Denmark, so that it can transition to producing ingredients rather than early life nutrition (ELN) solutions.

The rebuild is scheduled to begin in July 2026, with the first test productions slated for January 2027.

This is part of Arla Foods Ingredients’ “transition to dairy” strategy, initially announced in August 2024, which sharpens the company’s focus on high-quality milk and whey protein innovation, moving away from its previous business model, which included some ELN ingredients.

Future strategy for special ingredients

At the time of the announcement, Arla Foods Ingredients stated that it was pivoting to meet the growing consumer demand for high-protein dairy products by creating and selling high-quality milk and whey protein ingredients.

“This investment is strategically important for both Arla Foods and Arla Foods Ingredients. It supports our growth plans and enables the commercialization of more highly refined products,” says Luis Cubel, Managing Director of Arla Foods Ingredients.

“We see strong and sustained demand for our ingredients, and with this investment, we are ensuring that we will also have sufficient capacity in the future.” 

The company also highlights that the rebuild includes a heat recovery system, which utilizes waste heat from the exhaust air to preheat the intake air, thereby reducing the need for steam for heating and lowering natural gas consumption. This will result in CO2 savings and reduce the CO2 footprint by approximately 900 tons annually.

Earlier this year Arla Foods Ingredients highlighted its new protein soda at Fi Asia 2025, and unveiled Easy Bite, a high-protein, bite-sized snack concept featuring 40% high-quality whey protein and a clean label formulation, during SupplySide Global last month in Las Vegas.