Medina Dairy latest processor to announce milk price rise
© Tim Scrivener Medina Dairy has announced its milk suppliers will get an uplift of 1.7p/litre from 1 October.
The increase applies to its core Watsons milk price and will take its standard litre price to 29.8p/litre.
The price rise followed what the company described as a “gentle recovery’’ in its food-service and wholesale business following the easing of Covid-19 lockdown measures.
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But the business was also facing rapid cost inflation in relation to its distribution, labour, packaging and energy, said chief executive Sheazad Hussain.
He also acknowledged the escalation of feed, fertiliser and fuel costs for its supplier farms.
“As such, we are constantly looking to reduce our costs, improve efficiencies and increase customer pricing to be able to return as high a price as we can to our pool of farmers,’’ said Mr Hussain.
The price increase comes soon after Freshways Dairy, which Medina Dairy will merge with at the end of the year, announced a 1.5p/litre milk price increase from 1 October.
Freshways Dairy also made a pledge that its farmgate price would not be cut for at least six months.