Today came the Court of Appeal’s verdict regarding Boxholm’s dairy. A long story that began when Arla moved the production of the nationally known Boxholm cheese 70 miles north, to Östersund, in 2019.
The starting shot for the legal dispute was when Boxholm municipality bought the old empty dairy premises in central Boxholm in 2020.
Because what was it that the municipality had actually bought? An empty shell or a complete dairy with cisterns, tanks, cheese machines and all? That is the question that the Court of Appeal has been tasked with deciding – and the verdict was announced today.
“Went around and put up post-it notes”
There are many strange turns around the purchase. The then municipal councilor Johan Birath told SVT Nyheter Öst that Arla’s representatives went around and put post-it notes on several of the fixtures – as a sign that they would not be included in the purchase. But the inventory was never included in the written agreement.
Boxholm municipality therefore refused to hand over the machines to Arla. In addition, the municipality sold the dairy premises on to Arla’s competitor: Glada Bonden – a local upstart who started making cheese under the name “Äkta Boxholms”.
Arla felt cheated by the municipality
Arla felt cheated and went to court. A municipality should not try to be deceived in this way, Arla’s representatives believed. And demanded to collect the inventory from the dairy. It was the starting point for a several-year-long legal dispute – which is decided today.
Glada bonden has so far suffered several setbacks: First, the Patent and Market Court prohibited Glada bonden from using the name “Äkta boxholms”. Then the district court decided that Arla has the right to the inventory – something that would mean a stoppage of operations at the dairy.
But today came the Court of Appeal’s decision – which gives Boxholm municipality and Glada bonden the right to the inventories.
See the story behind the legal dispute here:
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On the Special site The Boxholm uprising can you see Arla’s picture of what happened.
