Arla Customers Agree to Pay Dairy Farmers More
UK – Three Arla customers, ASDA, Aldi and Lidl, have promised a farmgate price of 28 pence per litre, while a third, Morrisons, has pledged 26 pence.
18 August 2015
2 minute read
The announcements are responses to farmer protests and negotiations with farming leaders who say milk prices in recent months are not covering production costs.
ASDA said it will do this without a shelf price increase through its adoption of a “Farmers’ mark label”.
An ASDA spokesperson said: “Asda’s origins are in dairy farming which is why we are acting in the best interests of our farmers and our customers by increasing the price we pay, introducing the Farmer’s Mark label and not passing on any of the costs to customers – our retail price stays the same.”
Morrisons initially announced a ‘Milk for Farmers’ brand which would add ten pence onto the retail price of a proportion of its milk and has since announced a minimum price of 26 pence per litre.
This was welcomed by the National Farmers Union before Morrisons opted to add 34 pence per pack was on cheddar – equivalent to ten pence per litre.
Lidl said it will increase the price farmers receive through its processors, according to the NFU.
NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said the actions of Lidl would “help ensure farmers get a fair price”.
Commenting on the ASDA announcement, NFU President, Meurig Raymond, said: “It is clear from ASDA that this commitment is to support the UK dairy industry at a time of crisis. It is now important that Arla ensures this helps to support the British dairy industry with immediate effect.”
Arla said its newly launched ‘Farmer-owned Marque’ will start appearing on milk tankers.
The marque will allow consumers to identify “responsibly sourced” milk from which all profits go back to owners, said an Arla spokesperson.
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