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Dairy cooperative Arla Foods has begun work on its £179m mozzarella plant in Devon, UK.

The plant was announced last year as part of Arla’s biggest UK investment to enable it to produce mozzarella in Devon, from as early as 2027 at the Taw Valley Creamery. As part of the investment, the existing creamery will be updated to include state-of-the-art technology and will create over 100 additional skilled jobs for the local area. 

Fran Ball, VP of production in the UK for Arla Foods, said: “We’re incredibly proud to see work has begun on our state-of the-art mozzarella plant in the UK. As part of the launch of our mozzarella line, we are exploring how we can use this as an opportunity to recruit more people into the industry. This is a really exciting time for Arla, and for all our colleagues at Taw Valley – as we continue to showcase Arla leading British dairy production.”

The business will be looking to recruit for a variety of roles, including launching an apprenticeship scheme, which will enable the training of employees with the view of offering them full time positions when production begins.

Speaking about Arla’s support for British dairy, Bas Padberg, managing director of Arla Foods UK, said: “The investment into our Taw Valley site showcases our commitment to driving change in the UK, and supporting the future of British dairy.”

The news follows the announcement of Arla’s 2024 annual results, whereby the dairy cooperative confirmed it made record investments of more than €1 billion globally in 2024. In February, it announced a proposal to invest £90 million into its Lockerbie site in Scotland.

Last week, Arla Foods announced a merger with DMK Group to create Europe’s largest dairy cooperative with a combined pro forma revenue of €19 billion.