Asda has decided to increase its milk price by 2ppl on August 1 after mounting pressure from farmers and dairy coalition members.
Dairy farmers have been protesting against the milk price cuts made this spring and cuts expected to begin in August.
The farmers have been supported by the dairy coalition which includes the NFU, TFA, FFA and recently the Women's Institute.
The coalition has called for dairy farmers to receive a price for their milk that covers the cost of production.
NFU President Peter Kendall said while there had been a deliberate focus to target the big players within the food chain that don’t have a mechanism to pay a sustainable price to their dairy farmer milk suppliers, today’s price increase from Asda should now pave the way for the three big milk processors to do the right thing.
“Today sees Asda joining Morrisons and the Co-operative in moving their milk price in the right direction, he said. “They are all now committed to paying a price that covers their farmers cost of production. This is good news but the work is far from over.
“I know that despite all of the fantastic work to date there will be many farmers who remain unaffected by today’s news. Many don’t supply milk to a dedicated retailer milk pool and so behind the scenes we have started to tackle the discount retailers and food service companies. We will focus the spotlight on any company that is exploiting farmers and paying crazy low prices for their milk.
“This coming week will see the dairy coalition pulling out all of the stops to ensure the processors in the middle of the supply chain pull the August price cuts. This now has to be our focus. Those August 1 cuts by the three large processors, Dairy Crest, Wisemans/ Muller and Arla must not happen.”
