Arla Foods

Arla approached Valpak to take away the burden of data collection and collation, as they discovered it would be more economically viable to outsource this task. This is due to the nature of the business, as they produce, import and export a wide range of dairy products from multiple sites (which in 2020 equated to 1,468 SKUs). These factors mean it is difficult and time consuming to keep track of data and packaging material flow. Data needs to be as accurate as reasonably possible to ensure compliance with the Packaging Waste Regulations and with revised packaging legislation once the reform has taken place.

Valpak’s Data Management Team took on Arla’s data collection by carrying out weighing days (where we weighed a large amount of the core products) as well as using packaging specifications from Arla’s manufacturing process.

Valpak also created a formula, which translated Arla’s system into sales quantities of unit of a product. Doing so improved the accuracy of Arla’s data submission and made the data collection and collation process more efficient. We also entered Arla’s product data into our Insight Platform, an online tool which provides businesses with a clear view of product and supplier data. Doing this means that Arla’s packaging breakdown is now visible, easy to digest and analyse.

Our Data Management Team also take care of Arla’s packaging weights requests for supermarkets, where suppliers aren’t Valpak members, which saves them time and resource.

Arla now has confidence that their submission is calculated accurately, using an Environment Agency approved methodology, and that they are paying for the correct amount of packaging waste.

By outsourcing data collection and collation to Valpak Data Management, a huge amount of work has been taken off their hands. All Arla needs to do is send the Valpak team their bulk sales data, along with any packaging changes. We then take care of the submission, including checking the weights, sourcing weights, investigating year on year changes in the submission and working out what activities they perform on their packaging.

Valpak also help Arla to complete customer packaging data requests, via the Insight Platform, which also provides them with visibility of their packaging and data submission.

Data visibility will also help Arla to prepare for forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, as this will be necessary for reporting purposes and will make it easier for Arla to identify problematic materials and make change effectively.