NFU welcomes tesco move on milk price

The NFU has welcomed Tesco's decision to increase milk prices in its stores and pass money back down the supply chain to dairy farmers.

NFU dairy board chairman Gwyn Jones said the decision was a reward for months of concerted campaigning by dairy farmers, their organisations and supporters.

"I'm very pleased Tesco has got the message that without a more sustainable price to the dairy farmers, there won't be a sustainable milk supply in the long run," he said.

"It will not return the industry to profit overnight, and the lesson learned from the past is that any increase must be sustained. But it does set an important example that others should follow and every little helps, as they say, in what is a desperate situation on farms.

"The whole producer side of the industry has played its part in achieving this outcome and presented a well-argued and documented case for a price increase, through things such as the NFU's work last autumn on exceptional production costs.

"I also have no doubt that an important factor in Tesco's decision was the clear message coming from the public, and from campaigns like that from the Women's Institute, that the supermarkets will not be forgiven by their customers if they allow the British dairy industry to go to the wall."

NFU President Peter Kendall said: "We are pleased with this news but it is only a first step. We now need the other major supermarkets to follow Tesco's example in the short-term, and the entire dairy industry to focus for the long-term in putting together supply chains that return a fair price for a world class product to all their participants."