Farmers to get more for their milk

SOUTH West dairy farmers who supply the Davidstow Creamery will receive a pay rise for the milk they produce.

Saputo Dairy UK, owners of the processing plant in North Cornwall, confirmed in a statement that it will increase its manufacturing standard litre price by 1.5p/litre to 30.65p/litre.

This will be phased over a period of two months, with a lift of 1p/ litre from May 1 and a further 0.5p/litre from June 1.

Around 330 farmer suppliers in Cornwall and Devon send their high quality milk to the Davidstow Creamery, where it is then used to produce leading household brands such as Cathedral City and Davidstow Cheddar cheese, as well as Clover and Country Life butter.

Announcing the price increase, Chris Thomson, group procurement director at Saputo Dairy UK, said: “We recognise the importance of our Davidstow supplying farmers in helping us to grow our brands and add value to the high quality products that we produce.

“We are pleased to announce this 1.5ppl increase in our milk price which continues to be amongst the most stable and competitive in the UK.”

Last month, Saputo Dairy UK – formerly Dairy Crest – announced that it had received a £3.2 million investment from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to boost production of cheese and ingredients for infant formula. The grant, from the UK Government’s Getting Building Fund, is supporting a multi-million expansion product at the Davidstow Creamery.