Take a look at how the pandemic disrupted the HoReCa market and instead boosted the consumer demand for dairy products. Learn how Arla’s sales in Europe went up and which countries contributed the most to the favorable numbers. See where else in the world the unexpected need for home-cooking propelled dairy retail sales.
Home-cooking uplifts Arla’s dairy sales
The pandemic outburst in 2020 has shaken the entire economy and the blow did not spare the dairy sector. With the HoReCa sector closed almost entirely, the consumption patterns shifted to in-home cooking and baking thus reviving the demand for retail products including dairy foodstuffs.
Danish-Swedish company Arla, owner of such brands as Lurpak or Arla scored a 5.6% growth in sales revenue last year in Europe. The highest numbers were noted in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The overall revenue from the European sales increased from € 6,41 billion to € 6,35 billion in 2019. Arla is a key player in the European market and plans to further strengthen its position by implementing a strategy to double its retail sales to € 600 million through an online platform.
The pandemic-born need for home cooking influenced a number of dairy segments last year. In the US, the overall retail dairy sales from September 2020 rose by 13.6% compared to the same period from the previous year. US butter retail sales grew by 16% by value and 24.5% by volume. In the UK, the fastest growing dairy product in retail sales was cream with an increase of 22.8% from last year while baking trends resulted in butter scoring an 18% rise in volume growth in retail. In France, the total earnings from dairy sales brought € 19.9 billion to supermarkets and hypermarkets in the period between January 2020 and January 2021.
