New organisation in Arla Foods

Peder Tuborgh, Arla Foods’ Managing Director, presents the Group’s new organisational structure.

As consumers and customers develop and change, Arla Foods’ organisational structure must be able to change accordingly. Consequently, Arla Foods’ activities will be centred on four major business areas, Consumer Nordic, Consumer International, Consumer UK and Global Ingredients. A new corporate centre to integrate inter-group functions will be also established.
The four business areas will strengthen Arla’s positions in the Nordic area and in international markets and thus assure its milk producers of a tenable milk price, now and in the future. The four business areas will be responsible for everything from production to sales and marketing for their respective area.
”Our driving force is in the business. Therefore, as many of our activities as possible should be close to the daily business,” says Peder Tuborgh.
He breaks with the former concept of one central head office in favour of a new corporate centre, which will gather together inter-group functions whose geographical location is not a key factor.

Consumer International
Arla’s sales of cheese and butter outside the three home markets of Denmark, Sweden and the UK will be gathered under Consumer International. The Production Division and, consequently, Arla’s production of cheese and butter at the Swedish and Danish plants will also come under Consumer International with Mikael Sternberg Christiansen, Director, Europe Division, as its head.
Consumer International will employ a staff of 5,900 and have an overall turnover of DKK 8.1 billion.

Mikael Sternberg Christiansen

Consumer Nordic
The home markets, Denmark and Sweden, as well as Finland and Norway, will be gathered under Consumer Nordic. The production of fresh products will also come under Consumer Nordic. Group Director Hans-Åke Hammarström will become head of Consumer Nordic with overall responsibility for the Nordic market. Anders Svensson has been appointed Hans-Åke Hammarström’s successor as Executive Director of the Sweden Division. Tim Ørting Jørgensen takes up the position of Executive Director in Denmark.
Consumer Nordic will have a staff of 4,500 and a total turnover of DKK 16.2 billion.

Hans-Åke Hammarström

Global Ingredients
Arla’s milk protein and whey protein activities come under Global Ingredients. Production of powder and protein products is the responsibility of Global Ingredients. Peter Lauritzen, Director, Arla Foods Ingredients remains responsible for the business area, Global Ingredients. Turnover for milk powder is DKK 4.7 billion and the area employs a staff of 1,600.

Peter Lauritzen

Consumer UK
Consumer UK’s activities will incorporate Arla Foods UK plc, Arla Foods’ partnership with Fonterra with regard to butter and blends and export activities from Sweden and Denmark to the UK. Consumer UK will have a turnover of DKK 15 billion and employ a staff of 6,300. UK-based Group Director Kim Nielsen will assume overall responsibility for Consumer UK.

Kim Nielsen

Corporate Centre
Corporate Centre, which will handle global, inter-group issues, will be divided into four areas:
Corporate Commerce: will comprise Group marketing, inter-Group research and development. This will be headed up by Andreas Lundby.

Andreas Lundby

Corporate Supply Chain will comprise milk supply, technology, global purchasing and investment. This will be headed up by Povl Krogsgaard.

Povl Krogsgaard

Corporate Finance & IT will manage matters relating to finance, economy, IT and legal issues. This will be headed up by Jørn Wendel Andersen.

Jørn Wendel Andersen

Corporate Affairs will comprise owner relations, Group HR, communication and Group development. This will be headed up by Peder Tuborgh.

Peder Tuborgh

Peder Tuborgh calls for responsibility, clarity and mobility
Two months after his appointment as Managing Director, Peder Tuborgh presents Arla Foods’ new organisational structure. The message is that individual responsibilities must be made clearer and that decision-making processes must be strengthened throughout the organisation while products and brands are made global and staff mobility increased.
”To expect to have lifelong work in one country and in one area is no longer valid,” says Peder Tuborgh. “Mobility must be increased and staff should seize the opportunities to work in other cultures and in other countries. As I consider this important, I will assume responsibility for the HR area myself.”
Peder Tuborgh emphasises that the new organisation will create a number of challenging new positions with greater global perspective.
”We must also set out who is responsible for what in the organisation, strengthen our decision-making and cut down on the time that it takes for a task to be defined and its solution to be found,” says Peder Tuborgh.

Focus on international growth
Consumer International will be the driving force in international markets.
Combining the overseas and European markets with production of cheese and butter into Consumer International will create a dynamic unit strongly geared towards growth, believes the newly appointed head of Consumer International, Mikael Sternberg Christiansen.
The first step on the road will be renewed focus on marketing in European markets. The red Arla masterbrand, which, in recent years, has become the umbrella brand for Arla’s other brands, will spearhead the intensified marketing effort.

”Our stated aim is to become the leading cheese and butter specialist in Europe,” says Mikael Sternberg Christiansen. “The only thing we’re currently lacking is genuinely strong brands. We have spent the past few years developing a competitive range and an effective production platform and our sales organisation is present in all the attractive European markets. We believe that we’re now ready to gear up for consumer marketing. We’re not talking about a revolution, rather about pressing hard on the accelerator.“

Potential in the Nordic area
Group Director Hans-Åke Hammarström has been appointed head of Consumer Nordic in Arla Foods’ new organisation with overall responsibility for the Nordic market.
”Arla must become an even better player in the Nordic market,” says Hans-Åke Hammarström. “Of course, we must focus on Denmark and Sweden, but we must also identify the potential across the whole of the Nordic area. With our fantastic range and overall capacity, our opportunities for growth are great.”