NFU Welcome Morrisons Boost To Milk Suppliers

Wed, 28 May 2008
 
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The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has welcomed the announcement by supermarket group Morrisons to provide a better deal for its dairy farmer suppliers .

In a move to extend its support for British agriculture, Morrisons will pay an extra 1p per litre for its liquid milk supplies sourced through its two milk producers, Dairy Crest and Arla Foods, and said both will share the benefit of the full 1p.

The supermarket chain is to also offer own-label regional milk to local consumers at no extra cost .

NFU dairy board Chairman Gwyn Jones commented: "I support Morrisons for seeking to inject some further confidence and profitability into the dairy sector. With milk production declining in the UK, Morrisons is sensibly seeking to secure their supply of milk ."

He added: "The NFU fundamentally believes that dedicated chains with proper contractual pricing arrangements for farmers are an important part of achieving a sustainable and profitable British dairy industry in the long term."

"The price increases that Morrisons has announced are very welcome but are also likely to be much smaller once shared amongst the pool."

"For these reasons we want to see Morrisons go further by establishing not only a direct, but also a dedicated relationship with their farmers . To this end our talks with Morrisons will continue."

Morrisons’ group trading director Martyn Jones said the initiative was about helping as many dairy farmers as possible.

"It is designed to benefit more of the dairy farming community, not just a select few. It will also enable our customers to see that they are supporting dairy farmers in their own region when buying fresh milk at Morrisons ."

Suppliers Arla Foods and Dairy Crest have also welcomed the initiative and are set to hold discussions this week with their producer representative bodies on the mechanism for distributing the money fairly.

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