2019 a great year for Arla's global butter brand

 2017 and 2018 were challenging years for Lurpak – mainly because of a high fat price – but the global butter brand fought back to deliver an impressive 2019.

Christian Fischer, Global Vice President of Lurpak, is understandably delighted with the result.

"From our core markets, the Middle East has contributed a lot to the strong 2019 performance and so has the UK. When it comes to our less established markets, Australia and our International Distributor markets stand out. Almost every market has been able to grow," said Christian Fischer, Global Vice-President of Lurpak.

2019 became the pinnacle of a 20-year period that has seen Lurpak sales grow from 47,000 tonnes in 1999 to more than 100,000 tonnes by the end of last year.

Christmas cheer

In the run-up to Christmas, October, November, and December are usually the brand’s busiest months. However, in 2019 the pace picked up even more than usual.

"Another major factor in us achieving the growth we did in 2019 was that we had sufficient cream in the run-up to Christmas, when we often have a shortage, so praise must go to the very good work of the Planning and Product Management team.

"The UK and Denmark ordered a lot of additional Lurpak, which we didn’t see coming, but the dairy in Holstebro, where Lurpak is produced, succeeded in producing every single order," added Mr Fischer.

At Holstebro dairy, Site Director Jørgen Greve is impressed by his team’s dedication.

"We are always busy in the run-up to Christmas, so we expected to be working hard, but we probably didn’t expect to be quite as busy as we were," said Mr Greve.

"But the employees are always determined to deliver on the orders at Holstebro Dairy. If we need to work a bit harder or a bit more to finish an order, that’s what we’ll do. We take great pride in producing Lurpak, and you can really see that in how hard our employees engage at the dairy."

From October up to and including December 2019, 1,650 tonnes more Lurpak was produced compared to the previous year.

The UK still loves Lurpak

The main market for Lurpak continues to be the UK with sales topping 59,000 tonnes in 2019. Lurpak Spreadable and the strength of the brand itself continue to drive the success in the UK, as Christian explains:

"Lurpak Spreadable has been and continues to be a big hit in the UK, because it brings together the great taste of Lurpak and the spreadability consumers demand. For the last 20 years we have consistently been able to grow this business," Mr Fischer explained.

From 1999 to 2019 Lurpak sales in the UK have grown from 28,000 tonnes to 59,000 tonnes - an increase of 111 percent.