Waitrose reports increase in fresh milk sales
Retailer Waitrose has reported a sudden increase in fresh milk sales which it attributes to customer support for UK dairy farmers.
In the past week the volume of fresh milk sold through its stores increased by more than 8%.
Sales of organic milk leapt by 30% over the same period.
A spokeswoman for the retailer said the rise in sales was due to customer awareness of the fight by UK farmers for a fairer milk price.
“The campaign is striking a chord with customers who want to show their support for British farmers by buying milk through us,” the spokeswoman said.
The retailer has been identified as paying one of the highest prices to its farmer suppliers in a survey by the NFU.
In its – Who Backs GB Dairy – survey the union states: “Waitrose consistently pays above the cost of production with a farmgate price of 31.09p/litre”.
“The campaign is striking a chord with customers who want to show their support for British farmers by buying milk through us.”
Waitrose spokeswoman
It pays this while charging shoppers the same price for milk as the mainline supermarkets.
The switch in shopping behaviour appears to mirror the findings of a separate survey by pollsters YouGov.
Carried out for The Grocer magazine the YouGov survey revealed that one in 10 shoppers planned to switch retailers to ensure farmers were getting a fairer deal.
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