Following a series of concessions from producers last week, farmers concerned at the state of the dairy sector and their position in the supply chain have shifted the focus of their campaign. Having first targeted supermarket chains which did not support their farmer suppliers and had been deemed to sell milk at inappropriately low prices, to the detriment of producers, farmers have begun to protest against other high street retailers including budget and frozen foods supermarkets and coffee shop chains.

After pickets at supermarkets and major processing plants yielded results in July, the coalition of farming groups behind the recent protests have pledged to continue their campaign of ‘naming and shaming’ retailers who source their milk unsustainably.

Iceland and Farmfoods have been identified by farming groups as targets for future actions, following a meeting to decide the next steps for the SOS Dairy campaign. This week, the Iceland distribution centre in Warrington was blockaded by protesting farmers. Farmfoods’ distribution centre in Solihul has also been named as a target by protest group Farmers for Action.

Groups in the ‘dairy coalition’ which launched SOS Dairy said they named the two frozen foods companies, after their lack of action on milk sourcing policies and refusal to enter into a dialogue with farming representatives, whereas other budget retailers including Aldi have made moves towards more sustainable milk prices.

Last month, the Cooperative, Morrisons and Asda agreed to ensure farmers are paid the cost of production for their milk after farming groups revealed milk producers were facing losses of 5 pence per litre on fresh milk. Following increased pressure on processors as farmers continued to protest, backed by consumer groups including the Women’s Institute, several buyers including Arla and Robert Wiseman agreed to rescind price cuts which were set to come into effect on Wednesday (1st August).

Although moves have been made towards introducing a voluntary code of practice within the dairy supply chain to achieve some long-term security, farming representatives have pledged to keep up pressure on buyers and retailers higher up the supply chain to ensure their interests are served in the immediate term.

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