Lurpak: Stable sales in a volatile market

Export sales of Lurpak remained stable during the past year despite fluctuating butter production and turbulent currency markets.

This was announced by Chairman Bendt Bendtsen to Butterdane’s Annual General Meeting last week.

”Although the market for bulk butter has been uncertain, we can take satisfaction from the fact that sales of Lurpak remained relatively stable in several markets – especially in the key markets of the UK and the Middle East,” said Bendt Bendtsen. The Chairman described the year’s result as ”satisfactory.”

Butterdane is the joint sales company for five Danish Lurpak dairies and forms part of Arla Foods’ consolidated accounts. Arla Foods supplied 92% of Butterdane’s products in 2000/01.

Jens Refslund, Butterdane’s Chief Executive, reported that the year had seen a modest decline in the volume of Lurpak Butter and Lurpak Spreadable of 1% - to 55,900 tons. In his report Jens Refslund also mentioned the new partnership between Arla Foods and New Zealand’s Fonterra, which was recently given the go-ahead by the UK Mergers and Monopolies Commission.
”We can now regard ourselves as number 2 in the UK yellow fats market – after Unilever. The Lurpak and Anchor brands will support each other so that we can secure our position as a powerful supplier of butter and butter-related products,” said Refslund.

With a market share of 35%, Lurpak is the best-selling butter brand in the UK, the brand’s most important single market. UK sales total 30,500 tonnes per year corresponding to 65% of all Lurpak sales. Lurpak’s second largest market is the Middle East which accounts for 20%.

Despite a rise in turnover of DKK 100 million – from DKK 1.6 billion to DKK 1.7 billion, the result for the year was DKK 36 million against last year’s DKK 45 million.
The Annual General Meeting reelected the Board of Directors.