From supplier to strategic partnership
Arla’s canteen has been transformed into a restaurant experience
Arla’s canteen has evolved into a restaurant experience that reflects Arla as a food company. This transformation has been achieved through close collaboration between Compass Group and Arla. The canteen guests have responded positively to the development, resulting in a significant increase in guest satisfaction and a growing number of daily visitors.
The Canteen Experience Needed to Be Reimagined
At Arla’s headquarters in Viby, the canteen has today become a place employees plan their workweek around. A place where they proudly invite guests, customers, farmers, and owners for lunch.
That was not necessarily the case in the past. But over the past year, Arla and Compass Group have worked closely together to rethink the canteen experience. The ambition was clear: to elevate the canteen from a traditional staff cafeteria into a restaurant experience, while also creating a place where you can clearly feel, see, and taste that you are at one of Denmark’s leading food companies.
‘Best in Class’ All the Way Around
“We’ve said from the beginning that you should truly feel that you are in a food company. That should be reflected both in the food itself and in the conversations around it,” says Allan Wright. One example that reflects the company’s DNA is Arla’s decision to serve “Denmark’s best cheese board” every single day.
Today, the staff restaurant has become Arla’s flagship canteen and an integrated part of the company’s identity. Compass Group currently operates canteens across 16 Arla locations — from the headquarters in Viby and two additional office sites to dairies and production facilities across the country. The ambition has been to become “best in class” across every aspect of the experience.
Significant Increase in Satisfaction
The close collaboration has also made a clear impact on the performance metrics.
The Guest Satisfaction Score among Arla’s canteen guests increased from 75.4% in June 2024 to 86.6% in June 2025. At the same time, the Customer Collaboration Index — which measures satisfaction with the collaboration with Compass Group’s client director — rose from 67 to 99 on a scale from 0 to 100.
The results reflect a stronger strategic partnership, closer dialogue, and a focused effort to improve the guest experience.
The development can also be felt directly in the canteen itself. The number of daily guests has increased from around 350 to more than 700 diners on the busiest days — effectively doubling attendance.
A Place Employees Plan Their Week Around
Every Friday, the head chef sends out the menu for the coming week to employees, and according to Allan Wright, it has become a fixed ritual. The new canteen experience now plays such a significant role in everyday life that many employees plan their week around it — especially when a favourite dish is on the menu.
“It’s my impression that it has become a highlight for many people. Employees look at the menu and think: ‘I have a meeting on Tuesday, but I don’t want to miss that dish — I’ll just move it.’”
An important part of the transformation has been the people working in the kitchen.
Allan explains that the staff are highly visible in the restaurant, engage directly with guests, and have become part of daily life for employees at the headquarters.
“Everyone knows the kitchen staff. Whether it’s the people cooking in the kitchen or those serving plates in the staff restaurant. Everyone at Arla HQ knows the people behind our lunch experience.”
An Easier Everyday Life
Today, the canteen experience extends far beyond lunch itself.
Employees can buy takeaway meals prepared by the kitchen, as well as homemade bread and cakes, jam, pickled products, crackers, and other items to take home — all made from scratch. And as Allan Wright describes it, it is “super convenient,” and “sales have exploded.”
Employees are also treated to small indulgences such as cookie dough for the “world’s best Christmas cookies,” traditional Danish buttermilk dessert with biscuits, and freshly baked cinnamon swirls from the in-house bakery.
They even have their own barista in the coffee bar, where employees can buy pastries from the bakery alongside freshly brewed specialty coffee. And according to Allan, there is always a long queue.
Employees at Arla can also sign up for barista courses or sourdough baking classes run by Compass Group.
In addition, smaller experiences and events are arranged throughout the year, including pop-up restaurant days — previously featuring live piano music and white tablecloths.
Communication Creates Anticipation
Communication with guests is also an important part of the overall experience.
The canteen has its own Instagram profile, where the kitchen team shares photos of dishes, upcoming menus, and small surprises.
“It’s not only the food on the plate that makes the difference — it’s the overall focus on the guest experience. From a varied menu and visibility on Instagram to the smile and dialogue across the counter. That customer mindset really makes an impact,” says Morten Krebs Gjesing.
In the kitchen, every service begins with a joint briefing — a so-called pre-service — where the team presents the day’s dishes to one another. For Morten, this says a lot about the culture:
“For us, it’s simply: now I’m going downstairs for lunch. But out there, it has been an achievement that they celebrate with a presentation. I think that’s an incredibly healthy culture. They take themselves seriously, they take the meal seriously, and they take us as a customer seriously.”
He compares it to the way high-quality restaurants operate.
“That’s the mindset that creates a quality experience in the canteen every single day.”
The canteen is also part of Arla’s broader employee experience strategy.
“It supports an overall workplace experience strategy, where we want to create great conditions for our employees. It’s important to us that our employees thrive at work and enjoy a healthy and inspiring meal every day,” explains Morten from Arla.
It’s About People
When Allan explains what has ultimately made the difference, he always comes back to one thing.
“As with everything else — it’s the people in there. It’s about people. That has been the key to your success — and our success together. It’s about the team at Compass Group.”
He describes an organisation with strong competencies at every level.
“If someone asked me, I would say that Compass Group has a really strong setup. From the leadership team to the people working in the kitchen every day. There are many talented people and a lot of great ideas. It’s a company with high energy.”
According to Allan, that is the reason why the collaboration today feels less like a traditional supplier relationship and more like a shared project.
“It’s that team spirit surrounding us,” he says.
Inspiration for Arla in Gdańsk
The experiences from Viby have also inspired Arla’s international locations. In Gdańsk, Poland, a new employee restaurant will open in April 2025, where Compass Group has also been selected as the partner.
Allan explains how the initiative began:
“There was a desire to create something similar to what we have here at HQ.”
The development has taken place through close collaboration between teams in Denmark and Poland. Employees from Gdańsk have visited Viby to experience the canteen firsthand and take part in the daily operations of the kitchen over several days, while Compass Group’s culinary specialists have travelled to Poland to adapt the concept to local taste preferences.
The ambition is not to copy the solution one-to-one, but to bring the same approach to food, service, and guest experience into a new context.
This way of working closely with customers is an important part of Compass Group’s approach.
When solutions are developed in partnership with customers, it creates both better experiences and stronger relationships. In 2025, 98% of Compass Group’s customers chose to continue the collaboration.