The sale of plant-based drinks to Danish consumers has not grown at the same pace as the dairy group Arla had predicted.
According to Jyllands-Posten, they are now taking the consequences of this and cutting back on the assortment offered to supermarket customers in several countries, including Denmark.
In concrete terms, this means that from next week you will only be able to buy two varieties of Arla herbal drinks in the supermarkets.
– In Denmark, both our sales of plant-based drinks and the total market for plant-based drinks have been fairly stable in 2024.
– Sales are thus still at a very low level, and we had expected significant growth, says Henrik Lilballe Hansen, director of Arla Denmark, to Jyllands-Posten.
He estimates that the inflation crisis bears a significant part of the blame for the failing turnover.
Plant-based drinks are typically more expensive than conventional dairy products, and this may have led some consumers to choose the cheaper alternative in recent years, when inflation has made a significant dent in purchasing power.
At the same time, doubts have been sown about the climate and health benefits, which have driven part of the sales of the herbal drinks.
Most recently, researchers at the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen have shown that plant-based drinks contain fewer proteins and amino acids than milk, and that the heat treatment of the drinks also reduces the nutritional value.
Arla operates the subsidiary Jörd, which only produces plant-based beverages. The company has had a total loss of DKK 200 million over the past four years.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
