Arla Foods to develop private label infant formula

Arla Foods, a dairy ingredients company based in Denmark, is gearing up to launch its first private label infant formula brand next year. Following the development of a new production method, the company is able to create new dairy-based product solutions.

Arla Foods Ingredients is currently using the new technology manufacturing the organic Baby&Me brand for Arla Foods, and the company expects to launch its first organic private label infant formula solutions based on the technology during 2022.

The patented method, called milk fractionation, not only allows for a bigger potential raw material pool, but also creates protein streams in a “unique and fully controlled process” with significantly reduced processing steps and a much more gentle processing of the milk.

Arla Foods says the new method allows for the development of specialized nutrient-specific foods, opening up new opportunities for improving infant formula and sports products catering to other vulnerable groups such as the elderly and people with medical nutrition needs.

“The method has been several years in development and I’m delighted to see what was once a vision become a commercial reality with the power to completely revolutionize targeted nutrition for vulnerable groups,” said Henrik Andersen, CEO of Arla Foods. “As science-based innovators we are driven to invent and reinvent our processes to ensure we have the best possible products available and continue to lead the way in whey.”

The milk fractionation process is being pioneered for infant formula at AFI’s dairy facility in Videbaek, Denmark to fulfil a growing demand for organic infant formula, a market estimated to increase by 14.1% in the next two years.

Andersen added “traditional cheese-making demands significant quantities of organic milk to produce the volumes of whey we require to meet demand and now we’re not reliant on this we can significantly increase production and, at the same time, offer parents and guardians greater clarity of the provenance of the organic infant milk formula because just a few Arla farms supply the milk to our factory in Videbaek."