The strategic decision is made in 2014: Arla Foods wants to go global. There are new markets in places like West Africa, Mexico and Central America to be conquered. This means new production facilities, more offices and more employees.

And security will have to keep up.

“Some of the places we expand to are third-world countries such as Nigeria, where there is great unrest. Meanwhile, employee travel activity increases, and we have a shooting against an employee in Saudi Arabia. Altogether, these factors lead to Arla’s decision to change its security set-up,” explains the dairy company’s Head of Global Security, Ole Madsen.

An internal and professional security organisation

He joins Arla in 2015 after serving as superintendent and detective chief inspector in eastern Jutland. His CV also includes international security experience in the form of a three-year stationing as head of an EU mission in Kosovo.

Ole Madsen’s task is to establish a professional internal security organisation for the dairy company.

“In 2014 we were using a small external firm in the Middle East and had a 64-page security manual that few employees managed to read all the way through,” he says.

Someone on the line two minutes after a bomb goes off in London

Today the dairy company’s security set-up is much more thorough and professional.

“Our security manual is three pages long. That means it’s read and practiced. And that’s the whole point of such a thing. We also have a travel tracker on Arla’s employees when they travel so we know where they are – or where they’re headed,” he says.

Ole Madsen explains that he or his colleague can warn travellers of any changes to a security situation, and if something should suddenly happen, they’re in contact right away.

“If a bomb goes off in London, for example, we’re on the line with the employee a few minutes after. We use an app from an external provider that allows us to put our employees on the phone with a doctor, a security expert or whoever else they may need almost immediately. And for as long as they need it.”

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Security for all 19,000 employees

Whereas security at Arla used to be something that mainly applied to Danish employees stationed in the Middle East, today the set-up covers the entire group.

“We have offices and production all over the world. Today we provide security to 19,000 employees - including those who are locally employed. And we’re covered at a professional level on par with other major international Danish companies such as Mærsk and Carlsberg,” says Arla’s Head of Global Security.

And the price?

“Almost the same as before,” says Ole Madsen.

It’s about having as small a team as possible – there are just two people in Arla’s internal security organisation – and choosing the right level and the right providers, he explains.

Learn more about security

You can learn more about how Arla implemented its new security set-up in practice by joining the Confederation of Danish Industry’s annual security seminar on 23-24 August 2018. 

Among the speakers are heads of security from companies Rambøll and FLSmidth, security company Guardian and representatives from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.

“DI’s members are increasingly doing business abroad, and with countries where the security situation is very different than in Europe and North America,” says Senior Adviser Christine Jøker Lohmann regarding the reasoning behind DI’s security seminar, which is being held for the tenth year running.

The price for the seminar and hotel accommodation is DKK 3,500 and the registration deadline is 16 August, 2018.