Water sector regulator Ofwat has granted self-supply water and sewerage licences to Arla Foods, the company owned by 12,000 dairy farmers.

Arla Foods manufactures a wide range of products including milk, yoghurt, cream and cheese – under leading brands including Cravendale, Anchor, Lurpak and Castello.

The dairy giant, which has 2,500 dairy farmers based in the UK, applied to the water sector regulator for the licences on 19 October 2020.

Arla Foods’ application to Ofwat for the licences explained that the firm has ten sites in England and recognised that water is a vital part in manufacturing its products, from cleaning and disinfection processes for milk (transportation) tankers and milk bottles, through to ensuring the everyday running of its cooling towers.

The company told Ofwat that despite the challenging market conditions caused by Covid-19, Arla Foods brand has continued to grow and there has been no drop-off in production levels.

According to the dairy company, having a self-supply licence will provide it with the requisite level of visibility, and the data and control it needs to focus and deliver on its strategy of protecting the environment and safeguarding its business from water scarcity.

The application said:

“Arla Foods states it has a requirement to have a clean data set. In order to do this to the highest level, Arla Foods considers that it needs complete visibility of each site’s water consumption and associated costs. It also has responsibilities regarding on-site boreholes and trade effluent discharge.”

The dairy company entered into a partnership agreement with Waterscan to take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions, including meter reading, Central Market Operating System transactions, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings.