UK dairy co-operative Arla has launched a new initiative aimed at providing fresh dairy products to hundreds of thousands of people lacking access to them.

According to FareShare, the largest food redistribution charity in the UK, fresh dairy items are among the most sought-after by the 8,000 charities it supplies.

Insights indicate that 450,000 individuals dependent on food charities do not have access to fresh dairy, with many charities unable to accept donations due to insufficient storage facilities.

In response, Arla has announced plans to deploy 'fully-stocked' fridges filled with British-produced milk, cheese, and yogurt to charities nationwide, starting with an initial 100 fridges to FareShare.

To kick off this initiative and raise awareness about the issue, the co-operative has also introduced the world's first free milk ATM.

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This innovative milk dispensing machine made its debut in North London earlier last week, allowing individuals to obtain fresh milk at the touch of a button.

Jonathan Dixon, senior vice president at Arla, expressed that the co-op aims to improve the availability of British dairy products.

He stated: "Too many charities have to turn away fresh dairy donations because they have nowhere to store it, but by working with FareShare we hope to overcome that.”

This initiative follows a study commissioned by Arla, which revealed that half of adults cannot measure not having daily access to milk, with 76% consuming it at least a few times each week.

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Additionally, 62% of respondents were unaware that not all food banks are equipped with fridges, therefore unable to store fresh dairy products, while half believed that everyone should have easy access to dairy-based foods.

Ben Ashmore, head of external affairs at FareShare, noted that the demand for nutritious dairy products is growing, but many organisations lack the infrastructure to safely store refrigerated items.

“This donation helps strengthen the capacity of our charity network, enabling them to support their communities better.” he added.