The merger with Germany’s DMK has propelled Arla Foods up Rabobank’s annual ranking of the world’s largest dairy companies, while New Zealand’s Fonterra has lost ground following the sale of its consumer business.

Arla Foods has climbed to fourth place on Rabobank’s annual Global Dairy Top 20 list, which ranks the world’s largest dairy companies by turnover. That is according to New Zealand agricultural outlet Farmers Weekly, which covered the latest edition of the report, published by RaboResearch on Wednesday 26 August.

French dairy giant Lactalis retained the top spot, according to the report, holding its position as the world’s largest dairy company in 2025 with annual turnover exceeding US$40 billion – more than US$16 billion ahead of Switzerland’s Nestlé in second place. Dairy Farmers of America took third place, whilst Danone rounded out the top five behind Arla, Farmers Weekly reported.

Combined turnover across the Top 20 companies rose 5.4 per cent to US$267 billion in 2025, according to the report as cited by Irish agricultural outlet Agriland.

DMK merger drives Arla’s rise
Arla’s climb up the ranking stems from Rabobank’s decision to count Arla and DMK as a single combined entity in this year’s report, following the merger that was formally completed in the summer of 2026. The combined turnover pushed the company ahead of Danone in the ranking. The merger created Europe’s leading dairy cooperative, with roots in seven countries and a combined milk pool of 19.4 billion kilograms annually.

New Zealand’s Fonterra has seen the opposite trend, falling three places to tenth after the cooperative sold its global consumer business to Lactalis.

Sixth to ninth place on the list are held by China’s Yili, the Netherlands’ FrieslandCampina, Canada’s Saputo and China’s Mengniu, Farmers Weekly reported.

By Maja Løvstrup
Photo: Arla Foods