THE UK is moving to a position which will allow it to compete on the global dairy market.
This was the message from Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson during his address to the Semex conference at the Radisson Blu hotel in Glasgow today (January 13).
He said the traceability and production standards meant the UK was positively viewed by the rest of the world in the dairy marketplace.
Mr Paterson claimed, however, the industry needed to find ways to add value to fresh dairy commodity products to take advantage of dairy opportunities both in the UK and further afield.
“We are looking to have a market for fresh milk,” he said. “But the best opportunities are to add value to our products and sell as a premium.”
As well as highlighting the possibilities for dairy expansion for UK products around the world, Mr Paterson claimed offering premium dairy products would allow the industry to take back some of the market share covered by imports.
Source: Farmers Guardian