Aarhus 2017 and Arla in groundbreaking collaboration

European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 wants to rethink and develop the food habits and relationship to food and sustainability in Denmark. Now, Arla steps in as a partner and active participant in the initiative.

Food plays an important role in our national cultural identity, Aarhus and Central Denmark Region is the centre for Danish food production and research with many prominent actors and food companies. Aarhus 2017 and Arla is now part of a collaboration that strengthens this position and ensures that the region remains one of the food clusters in the world that develops and rethinks sustainable solutions and is a unifying community for the creation of a sustainable food culture.

Under the headline ‘Det Gode Bord’, Aarhus 2017 and Arla will development projects that focus on food education, food habits, food culture and sustainability. One of the other goals is to inspire people to a healthier lifestyle. Another goal is to educate future generations to ensure that young people have a better understanding of food culture and its origin, the importance of waste and the need for sustainable solutions. At the same time, Arla will make products available to some of the events that Aarhus 2017 will organize.

CEO of Aarhus 2017 Rebecca Matthews welcomes the collaboration with Arla:

"The partnership with Arla is very significant for us and will help elevate the European Capital of Culture further. Arla is a large international company with a strong regional anchoring. Arla is responsible for many jobs, is committed to creating sustainable growth and rethink the way we develop the future of agriculture. This makes Arla an obvious partner for Aarhus 2017, so that together we can tell the many stories about innovation and development in the food sector in the region," says Rebecca Matthews.

"It is a very clear priority for us at Arla to help ensure a healthy and sustainable food culture in Denmark. At the same time, we are a company with strong roots in Central Denmark; through our head office in Aarhus, our future innovation centre in Skejby, our many farmers and our dairies; and we consider ourselves a natural part of the focus that Aarhus 2017 will have on food and food culture," says Tomas Pietrangeli, director of Arla in Denmark. He elaborates: "We are really pleased that we can contribute to rethinking and developing this in close cooperation with such a unique event as European Capital of Culture 2017."

In collaboration with a number of other food actors, Arla and Aarhus 2017 are developing a number of specific projects that will be presented later in 2015.

Rebecca Matthews is pleased that Aarhus in 2017 are on track in terms of achieving the objective of concluding agreements with sponsors and foundations:

"Compared to our overall objective, our present goal was to have made partnerships for 15 million DKK. I am very happy that we now have agreements in place for 32 million DKK, including 20 million from the Salling Foundations, as well as several millions in value-in-kind. This bodes well for our future work on fundraising, and the partnership with Arla highlights the importance of close cooperation with businesses, so Aarhus 2017 can be groundbreaking in establishing partnerships between cultural organizations and businesses," says Rebecca Matthews.

Aarhus 2017 budgets with revenues of 80 million DKK from foundations, sponsors and the EU.

For further information:

The Aarhus 2017 Foundation
Head of Press Peter Vestergaard
Phone: 20 13 10 90
Mail: peter.vestergaard@aarhus2017.dk

CEO of Aarhus 2017 Rebecca Matthews can be contacted via Peter Vestergaard.

Arla
Head of Communications Kasper Ibsen Beck
Phone: 89 38 12 15
Mail: kabec@arlafoods.com