Where to buy milk that ensures fair price for farmers?

rufydoofyM

I used to buy milk from Iceland when it was £1 for 4 pints several years ago and at the time it was far cheaper than tesco and asda etc. Then I read an article about homogenisation and was shocked:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
I now refuse to buy milk that is both pasturised and homogenised wether organic or not. We drink a bit less and the only milk I have found that isn't homogenised is taste the difference Jersey milk 72p ltr from Sainsburys and the Duchy organic milk from Waitrose £1.65 for 4 pints. More expensive but healthier and we feel better for it.

http://www.waitrose.com/home/inspiration/About_our_product_ranges/food/dairy/milk.html

Google homogenisation and health and you to might change:)

Dexters_Indignation

Charliezoo wrote: »

I've always been a little concerned that dairy farmers are being ripped off but I never knew the full extent of it. In the Telegraph there's been an article highlighting the unfair prices and I'm shocked that farmers are only paid about 25p a litre which doesn't even cover their costs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/9408891/Dairy-farmers-are-being-skimmed-alive.html#

I'm willing to pay a bit more for my milk if I know that the farmers are getting a fair price but I don't know where's best to buy milk. Does anyone know the best brand/shop to buy milk from?

Buy It from a cow!

Charliezoo

I've decided to try Abel and Cole's milk. I used to have their veg boxes years ago and didn't really get on with them but I can order £10 worth of milk every few weeks and freeze it and it's 99p delivery. At £1.92 for 2l it doesn't seem like too bad a price and is organic Gurnsey milk from a farm in Wiltshire. I'm very much looking forward to trying it.

http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/uk-dairy-farmers#Berkeley

Edwardia

I had a freebie one recently Charliezoo and it is nice, but I don't have enough space to store milk in my freezer or fridge so I have the Moo organic UHT.

Morrisons has organic semi skimmed milk 2 for £3 atm so I daresay farmers don't see much of that.

kittycatface

sarymclary wrote: »

I have been mulling over this dilemma all week, after the NFU meeting last week about the price cuts.

I have doorstep deliveries, as I feel that paying a premium price for my milk helps to keep the milkman in a job, so I feel the price is justified. However, my provider is milkandmore, who are owned by Dairy Crest (makers of Clover, Country Life, Frijj, etc). They are one of the companies that has cut the price they pay to farmers (cutting by 1.65ppl).

However, by taking my custom elsewhere, say to Sainsbury's who are committed to ensuring dairy farmers are paid a fair price for their milk, I am adding to the profit of a large supermarket, and potentially putting the milkman out of a job. My dad used to be a milkman in the early 1970's so I know what the job entails too. I even kept the doorstep delivery every time I moved house, in the past 20 years, because I was so committed to supporting the milkman.

This is a good point OP I came on this thread as I have been thinking about getting milkman since moving up north but struggled to know who supplies who, and wanted to know if it is fairer to farmers. I fondly remember our village milkman and he still knows every child whose house he delivered milk to even though we're all grown up! I think if whoever supplied the milkman paid a fair price this would be my favourite solution. Farmer friendly environmentally friendly and community friendly would be ideal.

PS does anyone know if profit margins for farmers are any better on organic milk? Thanks

Edwardia

https://www.milkandmore.co.uk has organic milk 80p for a pint, 2 pints for 1.58 and 2 litres for 2.93

If you look at the organic offers thread there is a section on dairy offers. Yeo Valley (independent) normal price is £1 per litre at Tesco and Waitrose and Moo UHT (independent co-operative) is normal price of £1 per litre.

Morrisons was doing 2 x 2 pints for £3 Sunday and that seems quite common. Abel & Cole etc all seem to buy direct from farms.

In my county and neighbouring one I can think of two farms which sell milk direct to the public door to door themselves at supermarket prices and have been doing so for years. They both cover fairly wealthy country areas though and the milk isnt organic.

I would think organic dairy farmers have a bit more choice where they sell their milk.

sarymclary

Edwardia, I'm not sure if milkandmore (DairyCrest) will also be undercutting their organic supplier, as well as the unorganic. It's this company I have such a big problem with, and as far as I'm aware, they are going ahead still with their 1.65ppl undercut on 1st August. Unlike Co-op and Morrisons who have caved in to pressure, I've yet to see them publicly come out to say they will do the same.

After the government stepping in this week, it will be interesting to see how they influence the larger companies, as well as the processors. The processors at the moment still seem to have the upper hand, and it seems the agreement met so far is self-governing. The only change really seems to be that farmers can now give 3 months' notice to withdraw supplying a processor, as opposed to 12 months' previously, but the processor only has to give 30 days' notice to ending a contract, or changing the price they will pay ... that still seems to be firmly tipped in favour of the processor.

If you consider that in 1994 farmers were receiving the equivalent of 25ppl for milk, and that is what processors pay on average today, 18 years later! Think about how much more fuel, and feed for cattle must cost in comparison. Bear in mind the reason the processors want to cut the price of milk for our farmers is because the global market price of cream has dropped.

It may have been seen initially by farmers that getting a contract with a large processor would provide long-term security, and a 'bread and butter' income, but it's turned sour (pardon the pun) now the processor has decided it wants to set the supply price too low. Perhaps it's time for the smaller farms to create it's own co-operative to supply, and cut out the processor middle-man?

After deliberating over the issue some more, even my OH has said he thinks that we should support the farmer, at the bottom of the chain, rather than Dairy Crest/milkandmore/milkman who will continue to stranglehold our farmers if we don't cancel our contract with them. I will be sorry to lose my milkman, but if Dairy Crest will commit to paying a fair price to our dairy farmers, I'll be the first in the queue to have my doorstep delivery reinstated.

sarymclary

Latest update from the NFU, which reiterates what I stated above. The cuts are still proposed to go ahead on 1st August by the big processors (Wiseman, Arla, Dairy Crest, etc.), and ASDA still refuse to pay a fair price to the farmers.

The full explanation of where things stand now are here:

http://www.nfuonline.com/News/Dairy-update--A-message-from-the-President/

Edwardia

I found OMSCo which has 500 dairy farmer members www.organicmilk.co.uk
(sometimes this works for me and sometimes not am guessing Google glitch)

Dairy Link which produces Moo organic UHT milk is a co-operative of 1500 organic dairy farmers. www.moomilk.co.uk

Found a thread on a farming forum, ARLA has dropped price for organic milk by 2p to bring it in line with other milk. Dairy Crest also dropping price. A co-op called DFOB went belly up and OMSCo accepted a lot of the organic dairy farmers who had belonged to it but in the end they couldn't take everybody who wanted to join.

Robert Wiseman seems to be thought of as the worst by the dairy farmers.

Am making some phone calls..

Sainsburys
Buys milk direct from a collective of dairy farmers and pays 33.59p per litre, same whether it's organic or not. More info on the corporate website www.j-sainsbury.co.uk

Waitrose
Organic milk bought direct from Duchy of Cornwall farms, Waitrose has lowered retail price but farmers still getting same price.

Tesco
Deal with a group of farmers direct for organic milk, haven't dropped price to farmers.

ASDA
Increased the premium farmers are getting by 3p per litre. Customer services agent couldn't say what the arrangements are for organic milk hadn't been told.

Lidl
The organic milk is British but head office hasn't put out a statement about milk so customer services agent took my email to let me know what it is when Customer Services gets it.

Morrisons
Haven't dropped prices, put them up. Organic farmers get same as non organic

Aldi
Don't use so don't know whether they have organic milk !

Spoke to a really helpful man at OSMCo and he said that farmers selling conventional milk deal direct with dairies and middle men and have being having prices dropped.
OSMCo is controlled by organic dairy farmers and he said their position is different. He told me that organic dairy farming is a niche market so it's run more by farmers.

He called Yeo Valley the most ethical, said they are the gold standard and have long term contracts with pricing structure with OSMCo. Waitrose has a private supply with own processing. He mentioned Sainsbury's and Tesco as being other places to buy from.

However on the farming forum farmers are blockading Tesco stores and there seems to be some contention between non organic and organic farmers. It seems like the non organic think the organic have it easy whereas DFOB went bust and ARLA has dropped the price for organic farmers by 2p also.

I already buy Yeo Valley butter and yogurt so I'll be buying their milk now too.

KxMx

Thanks to all who have contributed, have found it very interesting, farming (not dairy) in the family so I know times are tough across the board for farmers, despite the baffiling (ill-informed) envy/critisism some members on MSE show towards farmers.

I won't be buying milk from local shop anymore since they are one of the main culprits! Even the supermarkets which seeming had no intention of raising payments have been shamed into doing so, not so Wiseman's!