Morrisons has become the first supermarket to appear to support its dairy farmer suppliers by launching a new milk brand where 10ppl of the retail price will go directly to producers.
The new brand, Morrisons Milk for Farmers, will go into all stores in the autumn and is aimed at shoppers who want to directly support dairy farmers. It will sit alongside Morrisons standard-priced own brand milk in the dairy aisle.
The move has prompted a mixed reaction from the farming community, with some doubtful that producers will see the extra 10ppl.
NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie said the announcement ’falls short of the mark in making a lasting and genuine difference to dairy farmers’
NFU president Meurig Raymond said it was a ’welcome step’ but the product must be ’promoted properly’. He said the union had also discussed further initiatives to support dairy, including cheese, butter and yoghurt.
«We will continue to urge Morrisons and all retailers to ensure that farmers from all sectors whjo supply their food get a fair price,» added Mr Raymond.
Morrisons’ corporate services director Martyn Jones said: “We recognise that the current market for liquid milk is impacting on hardworking dairy farmers and their families. We want to reassure the industry that the retail price we charge for Morrisons milk reflects the highly competitive retail market. It is not linked to the price we pay our milk suppliers.
“We want to offer practical help by launching a range of 4-pint milk at a retail premium of 10p per litre, all of which will be passed back directly to dairy farmers. We will stock this product in all our stores, offering our customers the choice to support dairy farmers directly.”
Morrisons is also today giving more details of how it pays for milk from its majority supplier Arla, which buys milk from farmers.
Mr Jones added: “We also want to clarify that our current three year contract with Arla, who supply the majority of our milk, uses a cost model that automatically adjusts the price that we pay for milk, based on a combination of the independently set farmgate price and other commodities such as diesel and plastics that influence the cost of milk.
“We can confirm that we have asked our milk suppliers not to pass on further decreases in the current farmgate price to us, but to share any benefit with the dairy farmer instead.”
Morrisons said the 10ppl would be shared out amongst all Arla farmers as the milk in the Milk For Farmers is not from a segregated pool but from the non-aligned pool which the majority of Arla farmers are a part of.
Mr Bowie added: «Rather than tackling the urgent need to look at how it properly shares the risk and reward involved in producing fresh milk, cheese, butter, cream and yoghurts it will give consumers a blunt and uninformed choice of higher priced farmer branded milk sitting side-by-side with Morrisons own-label milk that is still being offered at loss-leading prices.
“While we firmly believe consumers want all dairy farmers to get a fair price, that will be challenging if this is the only change Morrisons intends to make to the way it sources its dairy products.»
The Bradford based chain agreed to talks with farmers following protests in its stores last week.
News of the move sparked a mixed reaction on Twitter, with some dubbing it a ’PR stunt’.
The new brand, Morrisons Milk for Farmers, will go into all stores in the autumn and is aimed at shoppers who want to directly support dairy farmers. It will sit alongside Morrisons standard-priced own brand milk in the dairy aisle.
The move has prompted a mixed reaction from the farming community, with some doubtful that producers will see the extra 10ppl.
NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie said the announcement ’falls short of the mark in making a lasting and genuine difference to dairy farmers’
NFU president Meurig Raymond said it was a ’welcome step’ but the product must be ’promoted properly’. He said the union had also discussed further initiatives to support dairy, including cheese, butter and yoghurt.
«We will continue to urge Morrisons and all retailers to ensure that farmers from all sectors whjo supply their food get a fair price,» added Mr Raymond.
Morrisons’ corporate services director Martyn Jones said: “We recognise that the current market for liquid milk is impacting on hardworking dairy farmers and their families. We want to reassure the industry that the retail price we charge for Morrisons milk reflects the highly competitive retail market. It is not linked to the price we pay our milk suppliers.
“We want to offer practical help by launching a range of 4-pint milk at a retail premium of 10p per litre, all of which will be passed back directly to dairy farmers. We will stock this product in all our stores, offering our customers the choice to support dairy farmers directly.”
Morrisons is also today giving more details of how it pays for milk from its majority supplier Arla, which buys milk from farmers.
Mr Jones added: “We also want to clarify that our current three year contract with Arla, who supply the majority of our milk, uses a cost model that automatically adjusts the price that we pay for milk, based on a combination of the independently set farmgate price and other commodities such as diesel and plastics that influence the cost of milk.
“We can confirm that we have asked our milk suppliers not to pass on further decreases in the current farmgate price to us, but to share any benefit with the dairy farmer instead.”
Morrisons said the 10ppl would be shared out amongst all Arla farmers as the milk in the Milk For Farmers is not from a segregated pool but from the non-aligned pool which the majority of Arla farmers are a part of.
Mr Bowie added: «Rather than tackling the urgent need to look at how it properly shares the risk and reward involved in producing fresh milk, cheese, butter, cream and yoghurts it will give consumers a blunt and uninformed choice of higher priced farmer branded milk sitting side-by-side with Morrisons own-label milk that is still being offered at loss-leading prices.
“While we firmly believe consumers want all dairy farmers to get a fair price, that will be challenging if this is the only change Morrisons intends to make to the way it sources its dairy products.»
The Bradford based chain agreed to talks with farmers following protests in its stores last week.
News of the move sparked a mixed reaction on Twitter, with some dubbing it a ’PR stunt’.
Source: FG Insight