Dairy Crest : announces July milk price and introduces price floor

Dairy Crest is announcing, in agreement with Dairy Crest Direct (DCD), that the Davidstow milk price will reduce by 1 ppl from 1 July 2016. This applies to all farmers supplying Davidstow. This means the Davidstow core milk price will be 20.72ppl* from that date.

At the same time, Dairy Crest is introducing a milk price floor, meaning there will be no further reductions in the milk price until at least the end of September 2016.

Ruth Askew, Head of Procurement at Dairy Crest, said:

"Dairy Crest is introducing this milk price floor now to give our farmers some much-needed stability until at least the end of September. We are doing this because we recognise the challenging environment dairy farmers are facing. I also want to make it very clear that this is a price floor - not a ceiling.

"Dairy Crest always aims to pay a fair, stable, market-related milk price. I know this reduction will be disappointing for our farmers. However, the on-going deflationary pressures in dairy markets remain significant. We must therefore act responsibly to ensure that our cheese business remains competitive. I am pleased that Dairy Crest continues to offer a contract which is amongst the most competitive in the country.

"I have every confidence in the future of British dairying. We have some of the best farmers supplying Davidstow as well as the best conditions for producing milk. We also have some of the most successful dairy brands such as Cathedral City, Clover and Country Life. Dairy Crest is investing to innovate and add value to the high quality milk supplied by our farmers, so that they and Dairy Crest can prosper into the future".

DCD Chairman Steve Bone commented, "It is our hope that this three month floor will go some way to help to slow what seems to be an on-going culture of monthly milk price reductions across the majority of milk buyers and promote some stability."

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*Manufacturing standard litre milk prices as published in milkprices.com

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Notes to Editors

About Dairy Crest

Dairy Crest is the leading British-owned dairy company. Our main consumer brands are Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and Frylight. We work with some 400 farmers in the South West.

Dairy Crest has invested significantly at its Davidstow creamery and is now manufacturing demineralised whey powder and galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS), a lactose-based prebiotic, both widely used in infant formula.

About Dairy Crest paying a stable milk price

Milk price floor: 1 December 2015 - end of February 2016

Dairy Crest introduced a milk price floor in December 2015 until the end of February 2016. This was in recognition of the additional pressures facing farmers throughout the winter months.

Milk price floor: 1 March 2016 - end of May 2016

Dairy Crest introduced a milk price floor to provide stability during peak production for farmers on the Davidstow Milk Balancing Contract.

About the Davidstow Milk Balancing Contract

Dairy Crest (DC) and Dairy Crest Direct (DCD) developed the new Davidstow Milk Balancing Contract to manage excess volumes at the Davidstow creamery. Ninety eight per cent of farmers voluntarily signed up to the new contract which came into effect from 1 April 2016. The core milk price is negotiated with DCD on a monthly basis.