Arla farmer-owners in the UK are getting behind the Anchor Cheddar campaign ‘the cheese sandwich needs you’ to tell their story as owners of the country’s largest dairy company.
The traditional cheese sandwich is in decline, according to a survey of 2,000 adults by British cheese brand, Anchor® Cheddar. The survey conducted by YouGov¹ looked into the nation’s eating habits and discovered that although we place cheese as our favourite nostalgic sandwich, we just aren’t tucking into them that often. In fact, 55 per cent of those surveyed had not eaten a cheese sandwich the previous week.
The survey also found that consumers are still keen to buy British to support farmers. When asked about our nations buying habits, 72 per cent said, if given the option, they would always buy 100 per cent British produce to support the nation’s farmers.
From Plymouth to Perth, Arla farmers will be out and about over the next few months urging shoppers to rediscover their love for the Cheddar cheese sandwich and buy a farmer-owned Cheddar brand as the second phase of Arla’s Support our Farmers* campaign commences.
The specially-branded Anchor Cheddar bus will be touring 100 towns and cities across the UK, handing out cheese sandwiches to shoppers who sign a petition to save it. The campaign kicked-off last night with a projection of the Anchor Cheddar campaign logo on the side of iconic London landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament.
Arla has 13,500 farmer-owners across Europe and one in four British dairy farmers (circa 3,000) is an owner of the Arla cooperative, with 100 per cent of the profits paid back to them. A network of Arla farmers is supporting the campaign by joining the tour and distributing leaflets to almost a million shoppers, highlighting how buying Arla branded products can benefit farmers during a period of lower milk prices.
Ash Amirahmadi, head of milk and member services at Arla, says:
“Our farmer-owners want to be able to meet consumers face to face to promote their British brands and spread the word that Arla is a farmer-owned business.
“We believe that the British public wants to help dairy farmers, so I urge shoppers to go out and reignite their love for the cheese sandwich, and support our farmers in the process.”
