Supermarket dairy initiatives ‘a step forward’

The industry has been in ‘turmoil’ after a year of protests over the price of milk

Dairy initiatives brought in recently by big supermarkets have been described as ‘a step forward’. David Shaw, who is a member of the NFU’s national dairy board, said a lot of farmers would be ‘very, very pleased’ about the prices they are now getting for their milk.

David, who farms Jersey cattle in Yorkshire, said the industry has been in ‘turmoil’ after a year of protests over the price of milk. In August the NFU said dairy farmers were nearing a ‘state of emergency’ after the price paid for milk dropped by a quarter in a year.

He said the only future solution he sees is through contracts and the creation of a contracted pricing system for a farmer’s products.

Last month, Dairy UK Chairman Dr David Dobbin called on the industry to focus on growing added value sales to the domestic and export markets, as well as increasing the promotional activity of dairy products to the public.

"We must develop an economically sustainable growth strategy, market led and focusing on growing in value not just volume.

Morrisons was the first UK retailer to launch a dairy product where part of the purchase price goes directly back to farmers. ‘Morrisons Milk for Farmers’ went on sale with 23p or 10 pence per litre from every four pint bottle being distributed back to dairy farmers.

Tesco announced its first and biggest farming group, the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) will be expanding to support more of Britain’s dairy farmers.

The largest group of its kind, Tesco has confirmed the number of dairy farms from across the UK it will have direct relationships with could increase by around a quarter. The supermarket will also look to foster and mentor fresh talent, by creating a new platform for new and young farmers wishing to enter the dairy industry.

Retailer Iceland introduced a uniform price for milk sold in its stores – so shoppers no longer receive a discount when making bulk purchases. The news was welcomed by Farmers For Action (FFA), which campaigns for the value of milk to be reflected in its retail price, rather than seeing it used as a loss leader to woo customers.