On 1 June 2026, Arla Foods and DMK Group officially commenced unified operations under the Arla brand, following the successful completion of their planned merger.
The transaction establishes Europe’s leading farmer-owned dairy cooperative, bringing together approximately 11,200 dairy farmers and 28,800 employees across seven European nations. The combined business is designed to enhance the long-term scale, economic stability, and resilience of agricultural food production across the continent.
With the merger now legally in effect, the unified cooperative will manage a combined annual milk pool of 19.4 billion kg and control a pro forma revenue exceeding €20 billion.
Operational Scale and Financial Breakdown
The completed transaction consolidates the assets and supply chains of two major European dairy entities. Prior to the official Day One launch, the individual companies reported the following financial and operational metrics:
Arla Foods: Reported annual revenue of €15.1 billion, owned by 7,300 farmer-members, employing 22,000 colleagues, with an annual milk volume of 14.3 billion kg.
DMK Group: Reported annual revenue of €5.3 billion, owned by 3,900 farmer-members, employing 6,800 colleagues, with an annual milk volume of 5.1 billion kg.
Operating from its corporate headquarters in Viby J, Denmark, the consolidated cooperative intends to leverage its expanded scale to invest in sustainable dairy processing, advanced whey ingredients, and its global brand portfolio, which includes the flagship Arla brand.
Leadership and Integration Management
The governance and executive management structure of the combined cooperative has been finalised for the transition period:
Chair of the Board: Jan Toft Nørgaard (current Chair of Arla Foods)
Vice Chair: Inger-Lise Sjöström
Chief Executive Officer: Peder Tuborgh (current CEO of Arla Foods)
Ingo Müller, the former Chief Executive Officer of DMK Group, has officially joined the Arla executive management team as Executive Vice President. In this capacity, Müller will serve as Chief Integration Officer (CINTO) to lead the post-merger integration of the two businesses.
According to leadership, the immediate post-merger focus will center on ensuring operational continuity across the cooperative's retail, foodservice, and ingredient channels, while initiating disciplined integration workflows.
Legal Transition and Structure
The integration of the two cooperative networks will follow a structured timeline to manage corporate compliance and ensure organisational stability.
Over a two-year transition period, the farmer cooperatives behind DMK Group, which include DMK eG and DOC Kaas U.A., will formally merge with Arla Foods a.m.b.a. to establish a single unified European cooperative structure.
To maintain business continuity and regional legal compliance, DMK GmbH and its existing subsidiaries will operate as a direct subsidiary of Arla Foods, thereby retaining their current legal status during and after the transitional integration phase.
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