Pran Dairy and Arla Foods to collaborate for sustainable dairy production

Pran Dairy Limited, country's leading dairy company and Arla Foods Bangladesh Limited, the local subsidiary of European dairy cooperative Arla Foods has recently initiated a collaboration with an objective to showcase a market driven and sustainable dairy production to increase milk productivity and quality, alongside economic output of the local dairy value chain in Bangladesh in line with governmental ambitions for the development of the domestic dairy sector. 

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman & CEO of PRAN-RFL Group and Peter Hallberg, managing director of Arla Foods Bangladesh Limited signed a Letter of Intent at the Arla Foods Bangladesh HQ to mark the commencement of the collaboration, reads a press release.

In the primary phase of the collaboration, both organisations will conduct farm assessments to build capacity and to identify opportunities for more sustainable dairy farming solutions.

Subsequently, a series of training sessions will be conducted targeting trainers, extension staff and other relevant stakeholders to supplement the ongoing dairy activities.

Additionally, apart from strengthening the local dairy value chain, there will be further collaboration with Bangladesh Agricultural University to collect data systematically and scientifically to analyse social, environmental, and economic impact of the collaboration, the release added.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman & CEO Pran-RFL Group said, "We have a huge opportunity doing well in the dairy sector of Bangladesh. Pran Dairy is working closely with the contractual dairy farmers at remote places and giving various support and training for their skill development. But we need to give more emphasis on sustainable dairy production to increase milk productivity and quality, alongside economic output of the local dairy value chain in Bangladesh. I hope the initiative will bring good contribution at our dairy sector."

Stressing on the importance of the project, Peter Hallberg, managing director of Arla Foods Bangladesh stated, "In any country we operate in the world, we act responsible towards its societies. We feel that we can contribute significantly to the overall development of the dairy sector, supporting the goals of the country. As the fourth largest dairy cooperative in the world, with over 100 years of dairy experience, we are in a unique position to deliver commercial success for the dairy farmers in Bangladesh in and development of the sector and to do so sustainability."

Hallberg added "It's at the heart of everything we do and core to our new corporate strategy – Future26. We look forward to collaborating with our partners on this venture and to adding a valuable contribution with our extensive knowledge and experience of sustainable dairy farming, food safety and technology."

The event was also attended by Eleash Mridha, managing director of Pran Group, Md Muniruzzaman, executive director of Pran Dairy and Galib Bin Mohammad, head of marketing; Sumaita Khan, manager, CSR & alternative channel management and Toni Lehtonen, commercial project manager of Arla Foods.