Working with McDonald’s, Arla has announced the launch a new co-branded Happy Meal and Arla Organic Milk bottle which will roll-out across McDonald’s UK restaurants.

The new design of the 250ml bottles, feature the Arla logo alongside the iconic Golden Arches and will be available in Happy Meals and will be sold in over 1,270 UK McDonald’s restaurants, reaching over 5.5 million customers per year. This marks the latest Arla initiative aimed at making its branded organic milk more accessible to customers.

Arla and McDonald’s have been working together for 30 years, with Arla supplying McDonald’s with organic milk since 2007 for use in its teas, coffees, porridge and Happy Meal milk bottles. This growing partnership means that Arla is expected to supply over 30 million liters of organic milk to the restaurant chain this year.

Ahmed Laher, Business Manager in UK Arla Foodservice : “Our relationship with McDonald’s is very important. Arla has been supplying McDonald’s with milk in the UK for 30 years, and we’re proud to say that McDonald’s is our largest customer in volume for organic milk. McDonald’s are strong supporters of British Agriculture and are always looking for ways to support our farmer-owners.”

“There is definitely more to come, so watch this space. The Compassion in World Farming awards win shows our ongoing commitment to the Arla/McDonald’s relationship, and we look forward to work on more projects and initiatives in the coming months and years,” he says.

Arla and McDonald’s also have a long history of partnership on a series of agricultural initiatives, aimed at improving animal welfare, sustainability and farmer resilience.

In 2017, McDonald’s received the Compassion in World Farming Good Dairy Commendation for the commitments, made with Arla, on welfare standards around their organic milk supply.

Off the back of their award, Arla is actively working to boost links between McDonald's and Arla farmer owners by identifying a specific group of farmers to work with to ensure that it is continuing to meet the robust welfare criteria for dairy cows.

Jonathan Dixon, Vice President of Food Service, Arla Foods UK, said: “Arla has been working on a range of initiatives in recent months aimed at making organic milk more accessible to our consumers. We have recently repositioned our branded organic milk as Arla Organic Milk to highlight its free range credentials, and the rollout of Arla Organic Milk 250ml into McDonald’s restaurants across the country is a great way for us to expand the reach of our products.”

“The Compassion in World Farming awards win shows our ongoing commitment to our 30-year partnership with McDonald's and we look forward to working together on a series of new initiatives in the coming months and years.”

Pete Garbutt, McDonald’s UK Agriculture Manager, said: “Arla has been supplying McDonald’s with organic milk since 2007, and we’re proud that over 30 million liters will be distributed to our restaurants around the country this year.”

“Our award-winning partnership with Arla has seen some excellent work take place on animal welfare and sustainability, and it was great to see our work recognized by Compassion in World Farming. I look forward to continuing to work to further improve the sustainability of our dairy supply.”

Elsewhere, McDonald's has announced their growth plan for China following the completion of a strategic partnership with CITIC and Carlyle.

Ramping up a new era of growth and innovation, the partnership will operate and manage McDonald's businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong, leveraging combined expertise and strength to drive an expansion strategy.

The transaction has obtained China's regulatory approval and was completed on July 31, 2017, creating the largest McDonald's franchisee outside of the United States. The sale to the new McDonald's China franchisee includes McDonald's existing businesses in Mainland China (approximately 2,500 restaurants) and Hong Kong (approximately 240 restaurants).

The new partnership today announced a series of development initiatives for mainland China. Termed “Vision 2022,” this strategy aims to drive double-digit sales growth in each of the next five years by increasing the number of restaurants from 2,500 to 4,500, including delivery hub coverage of over 75 percent of restaurants, by the end of 2022, bringing unparalleled convenience to Chinese customers. The opening pace of new McDonald's restaurants in mainland China is expected to progressively ramp up from approximately 250 per year in 2017 to 500 per year in 2022 under the new partnership.

In addition, Vision 2022 includes plans to increase significantly McDonald's restaurant portfolio mix in tier 3-4 cities to approximately 45 percent of all McDonald's restaurants in China. Vision 2022 also includes an increase of “Experience of the Future” restaurants to over 90 percent, which will enable the brand to offer digitalized and personalized dining experience to more customers.