Meadow Foods is the latest dairy processor to announce a substantial milk price increase from May as producers continue to face 'huge inflationary costs'.
The announcement by the Chester-based firm means that all producers will see their standard litre milk price rise to 41p per litre, a 4.5ppl increase.
The new rate for the equivalent manufacturing litre will be 41.625 pence per litre, commencing from 1 May 2022.
This is an industry leading price for May and new record level for Meadow Foods.
The processor is a major supplier of value-added ingredients to the food industry which processes more than 550 million litres of milk each year.
Jim Bebb, supply chain director at Meadow Foods, said: “This is a significant increase and one that we hope will help support our producers.
"This increase as been made possible by both the improved prices we have been able to achieve for our quality dairy ingredients and continued positivity in the market.
“This latest move means we have increased our milk price by 8ppl since January this year and we are committed to passing back any further increases as soon as we are able.
"We continue to work closely with our customers to ensure they fully recognise the pressure producers face and the impact these will have on milk supply in the months ahead.”
Dairy farmers supplying Muller who meet the conditions of the processor's Advantage scheme will also see a milk price increase of 3.5p per litre from May.
Those producers who follow the programme will see their milk price rise to 40p per litre from 1 May 2022.
Meanwhile, farmers who supply Tesco’s Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) will see a price surge of nearly 20% from May amid "challenging market conditions".
The group, set up in 2007 and now consisting of 520 farmers, will see their milk price jump from 34.16p per litre to 40.84p per litre in May.
