Scandinavian diary giant expands interests in China

Arla Foods, a Swedish-Danish dairy cooperative and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia, is expanding its business in China.

Four kinds of the brand's milk will be sold in some high-end supermarkets from Sunday.

According to the company, one liter packages of whole milk, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk will be available, as well as 200 ml packages of whole milk. The milk will be sold in supermarkets such as BHG. The milk will initially be available in China's major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and later will be rolled out nationwide.

All Arla's diary products in the Chinese market are produced on farms in Europe, known as Arlagardens, which describes the garden surroundings that the cows live in. The price of the milk will be three or four yuan higher than the same diary products produced in China. The protein content of Arla's whole milk is about 3.6 percent.

Arla, which is one of the world's biggest organic dairy producers, will introduce its organic milk and milk powers to China next year.

A delegation led by the Danish Minister for Food and Agriculture visited Beijing and Shanghai from Nov 24 to 29 to promote agricultural trade ties between the countries. The two countries signed a cooperative contract on Nov 26 to build a diary technical center in China.