Press release -
MÜLLER UK & IRELAND GROUP ANNOUNCES MILK PRICE HOLD FOR FEBRUARY 2015
Müller UK & Ireland Group has confirmed that its standard milk price for February 2015 will be unchanged.
The company is offering a standard price of 25.90 pence per litre to Müller Wiseman Milk Group members who are not aligned to supermarket groups, which have their own pricing arrangements.
Müller has also stressed its intention to continue to operate in full compliance with the spirit and intent of the Voluntary Code.
That means that farmers who choose to supply the company will always get a full month’s notice of any change in their farm-gate milk price, and the flexibility to move elsewhere after three months’ notice should they wish to do so.
Carl Ravenhall, Managing Director of Müller Wiseman Dairies said:
"In an extremely challenging environment, Müller UK & Ireland Group is working hard to add value to milk produced by British dairy farmers.
“We recognise that this is a tough time for dairy farmers and we are doing everything we can to maintain a leading milk price, whilst retaining our ability to compete, particularly against processors and farmer owned co-operatives who reduce their milk prices with little notice.
"We are acting to ensure that our own processing and distribution operations are as efficient as possible and we are placing substantial focus on further developing a diverse range of dairy products for domestic and international markets.
"Given the further weakening of the value of dairy commodities and the continuing global supply and demand outlook we are unable to rule out further milk price adjustments to reflect the poor returns from cream and butter products and the need for us to remain competitive in a UK and international context.
"We share industry concerns about the short term outlook for farm gate milk prices and look forward to seeing signs of improvement in the current imbalance between supply and demand."
Roddy Catto, Chairman of the Müller Wiseman Milk Group, which represents the 1,200 farmers who supply the company, said:
“This is good news and reflective of Müller’s intention to do what it can against a backdrop of falling milk prices in the UK and around the world, to ensure that MWMG farmers are receiving a standard milk price which is significantly ahead of many others available in the UK.
“We will continue to work closely with the team at Müller to ensure that the concerns which members have about the current global supply and demand imbalance and its impact on their businesses, continue to be heard loud and clear.”
Topics
Notes to Editors
DairyCo Datum information on UK farm-gate milk production and the decline in the value of dairy commodity products is here:
UK Milk Production - http://www.dairyco.org.uk/market-information/supply-production/milk-production/uk-daily-milk-deliveries/#.VCUx_Gdwbcs
UK butter and cream prices - http://www.dairyco.org.uk/market-information/milk-prices-contracts/wholesale-prices/uk-wholesale-prices/#.VCQmLGdwbcs
Müller UK & Ireland Group
Müller UK & Ireland Group is wholly owned by the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. It has 19 sites nationwide and employs almost 6,000 people across four business units: Müller Dairy, Müller Wiseman Dairies, Müller Minsterley and TM Telford.
Based in Market Drayton, Müller Dairy is the UK's leading yogurt manufacturer, with major brands such as Müller Corner, Müllerlight and Müller Rice.
Müller Wiseman Dairies processes and delivers around 30% of the fresh milk consumed in Britain every day and is famous for its black & white cow-print branding. In December 2013, the business formally opened a major new state of the art butter-making plant in Shropshire, with the capacity to produce up to 45,000 tonnes of salted, unsalted and lactic butter each year.
Müller Minsterley is our facility near Shrewsbury at which chilled desserts including Cadbury Bubbles of Joy, Pots of Joy, Layers of Joy and Twin-pot products are produced under a license from Cadbury.
TM Telford is a state of the art yogurt production facility in Telford, Shropshire which is focused on the development of the company's presence in the UK private label yogurt market.
To make its range of dairy products, the company buys milk from more than 1,200 British dairy farmers, all of whom are Red Tractor Farm Assured.
Müller Wiseman Milk Group Dairy members elect a representative farmer board which works with the company to discuss milk supply issues, including the Group's commitment to maintain a competitive milk price and contractual position.
