Sainsburys To Form Milk Development Group

Wed, 25 Oct 2006
 
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Sainsbury’s is aiming to set up a direct link with dairy farmers in a newly formed development group. This would be aimed at increasing simplicity in the food chain, and the move would be backed by the National Farmers Union (NFU).

The new group, which will be called the Sainsbury Dairy Development Group (SDDG), will include up to 450 dairy farmers from the direct suppliers of Robert Wiseman Dairies and Dairy Crest. The company is currently Sainsburys main supplier of fresh milk .

Gwyn Jones of the NFU dairy board said, "In the Vision for the Dairy Industry the NFU advocated retailers and farmers coming together to create relationships that would foster more trust and mutual understanding."

Sainsbury hopes that by having a new connection with dedicated local farmers to supply stores, they will be able to increase the farmer’s salary and charge customers less.

"We welcome the opportunity to get closer to our end customer, and we are pleased that there is a long term commitment from Sainsbury's to help us find efficiencies and innovation in the chain," said Andy Bloor, chairman of the Wiseman Milk Partnership .

Asda were the first supermarket company to adopt the NFU's vision for the dairy industry two years ago. The Wal Mart owned group confirmed that it has paid out nearly £6 million extra as a result of the deal, which entitles its farmers to an extra 1p per litre above the Arla, Asda’s milk supplier, price base.

Once Asda had Arla on board as its sole supplier of fresh milk, the company had a dedicated group of 550 producers, called the ASDA Farmer Partners, who began working to supply Asda with its own label of fresh milk.

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