Arla Foods, a Danish dairy company, is set to open a new DKK270m global innovation center in Aarhus, Denmark.
The 10,000m2 facility with open space and project rooms for collaborations and will gather all of Arla's innovation resources in a single location. It will become part of the Danish Food Cluster, an international cluster for innovation and distribution of knowledge within the agriculture and food sector.
Construction of the center is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2014 and completed by the third quarter of 2016. It is claimed to be compliant with 2020 energy standards in Denmark.
Arla senior vice president and strategic innovation head Paul Cornillon said various locations across Europe have been analyzed before an ultimate decision to base the center in Aarhus.
"The facility will be placed close to the many global functions that are based in Arla Foods headquarters, and we also see many opportunities to enter into partnerships and sharing knowledge with existing and future organisations in the Danish Food Cluster, which will strengthen Arla Foods' innovation culture, reputation and performance," Cornillon added.
Arla Foods executive vice president and Global Categories and Operations head Jais Valeur said, "Innovation of the highest international standards plays a key role in Arla's efforts to reach the targets in our Strategy 2017."
"That is an essential part of our growth ambitions and our mission to create the highest possible value for the milk supplied by our cooperative owners," Valeur added.
Image: Construction of the center is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2014. Photo courtesy of Arla Foods / Creative Commons Attribution.