Arla Foods expands Australian footprint with Brancourts cottage cheese acquisition
Arla Foods has announced the acquisition of Brancourts, an Australian dairy producer founded in 1895 and based in Hexham, New South Wales. The transaction will be carried out through Arla Foods Mayer Australia (AFMA), the joint venture established in 2015 between Arla and Australian family-owned importer Mayers Fine Food, in which Arla holds a majority stake.
Brancourts produces cottage cheese, sour cream and sweetened condensed milk using fresh milk sourced from Australian farms, with recipes developed over four generations of family ownership. The acquisition gives Arla an established local manufacturing platform, adding domestic production capability to a portfolio that already includes strong branded positions in butter and cheese through Lurpak and Castello.
Cottage cheese: a fast-growing segment
The strategic rationale centres on the cooking cheese category, and cottage cheese in particular, which Arla describes as the fastest-growing segment within that space, recording over 40% volume growth year-on-year in Australia. The company attributes this growth to shifting consumer preferences relating to protein content, health positioning and versatility in food preparation.
Lillie Li Valeur, Executive Vice President of Arla International, pointed to Australia’s broader market fundamentals as underpinning the investment. “The country combines a stable economy, high purchasing power, population growth as well as strong dairy traditions with high consumption and
a sophisticated retail environment similar to Europe,” she said. “Moreover, with the free trade agreements between EU-Australia and UK-Australia coming fully into effect, we anticipate even more opportunities in the years to come.”
Production scale-up planned
Alongside the acquisition, Arla has announced plans to significantly expand local production capacity at the Brancourts site. The company intends to apply its global category and product development expertise to the existing manufacturing operation, with the aim of accelerating innovation across product formats and usage occasions within the cottage cheese category.
Mai Roberts, General Manager of AFMA, said the combination of Brancourts’ production capabilities with Arla’s technical and commercial expertise would support that ambition. “We are well positioned to meet consumer interests and needs by actively innovating the cottage cheese category, from product development to usage occasions, and accelerate its growth in the Australian market,” she said.
Heritage operation changes hands
Brancourts has been under family ownership for over 130 years, with Julie Conradt serving as its fourth-generation owner. She described the sale as contingent on finding a buyer aligned with the company’s values and long-term commitments. “AFMA brings the ambition to invest in the future of the business, while respecting the heritage, people and local relationships that have defined Brancourts for generations,” she said.
