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Dairy Industry News and Features

Our Weekly News Bulletin is available by email. To receive it please email info@ipmsltd.co.uk.

^{Note, all standard litre prices are those quoted by www.milkprices.com and are based on the following:

The liquid standard litre 4% bf, 3.3% protein, 30,000/ml Bactoscans, 200,000/ml SCC, 1 million litres a year on EODC but before seasonality, monthly profile payments, balancing, B price additions, capital retentions or annual incentive schemes. The manufacturing standard litre is to exactly the same specification with the exception of 4.2%bf and 3.4% protein.}

^{Remember this bulletin continues to be available free of charge and takes the team at Ian Potter Associates considerable time to produce. The only encouragement to keep producing it is a combination of enthusiasm, tag sales & enquiries from our readers.} ^{All views expressed in this bulletin are those of Ian Potter Associates and a shed load of dairy farmers. It is necessarily short and cannot deal with various issues that arise in any detail. As a result it must not be relied on as giving sufficient advice in any specific case. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content but neither Ian Potter Associates nor Lydia Clare personally can accept any liability for any errors or omissions. Professional advice must always be taken before any decision is reached. For our privacy policy please click here.}

22/10/19

Marks and Spencer’s do the honourable thing and pay all its Welsh Tomlinson’s suppliers

Whilst there were we believe only two M&S aligned producers affected by the recent collapse of Wrexham based Tomlinson’s Dairies the top end retailer has paid both farmers directly for all the milk delivered up to and including Saturday 12th of October when Tomlinson’s closed it’s doors. In fact Ian understands M & S took over all farmer payments at least 2 months ago declining to pay Tomlinson’s for the farmers share.

22/10/19

Sainsbury’s only have one realistic option

The move by M&S to do the honourable thing and pay its dairy farmers in full piles even more pressure on Sainsbury’s whose reputation is certainly that it has skin like a rhinoceros. To date Sainsbury’s has shown no inclination to the numerous criticisms and attacks it is experiencing in connection with the outstanding milk money due to its SDDG Tomlinson’s farmers.

22/10/19

Together with Sainsbury’s – Tomorrow’s Conference

Tomorrow Sainsbury’s are holding their 2019 farming conference at the Park Plaza, Westminster from 10am. It’s billed by Sainsbury’s Head of Agriculture Barney Kay as “A great opportunity for you to ask questions which will be put to the Q and A panels by Charlotte Smith” (as in BBC Radio 4 farming today). Send your questions to register@sainsburys-events.co.

22/10/19

Sainsbury’s V M&S

M&S read the signs and took control of the money due to its Welsh Farmers whereas Sainsbury’s appear to have taken no action to protect its farmers. In addition Sainsbury’s allegedly paid Tomlinson’s on a daily basis to aid cash flow. That may have helped Tomlinson’s but having made that move Sainsbury’s are exposed without any trunks on now the tide has gone out because the farmers want paying and Sainsbury’s were aware of how serious the financial position of Tomlinson’s was.

22/10/19

Tomlinson’s sites up for sale but where’s the milk

PWC as administrators for Tomlinson’s of Wrexham are attempting to close bids for up to three Tomlinson sites in less than a week. All of Tomlinson’s direct suppliers have fled to various parts of the country in a bid to find a new home and the Sainsbury’s suppliers have all been given Muller contracts as have the M & S producers. So it’s a liquid business for sale without any milk.

22/10/19

On offer today at Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s have a toy sale and you can buy a Hotwheels Corkscrew Crash for only £25 (was £50) plus a Play-Doh Animal Discovery Bucket for £10 (was £20). Tomlinson’s SDDG farmers believe Sainsbury’s James Car Crash Curtis who is credited as been instrumental in introducing 2 wild card processors to Sainsbury’s (Medina & Tomlinson’s) in 2016 is the driver of the Hotwheels Milk Screw Crash and that the Play-Doh Animal Discovery Bucket has had all its milking cows taken out.

19/10/19

1.5ppl Milk Price reduction for Supplier5s to Wyke Farms (Cheese) from 1st October

This takes the producer standard manufacturing litre price to 26.91ppl & based on a standard liquid litre 26ppl.

19/10/19

1ppl Milk Price Reduction for Suppliers to Payne’s Dairies – from 1st October

This takes producers standard liquid litre price to 25.75ppl.

19/10/19

Freshways (liquid) to stand on/hold its producer milk price for October

This means the existing liquid standard litre price of 25ppl will continue. Staying with Freshways they have recently written to customers pushing through a 4ppl price increase from early September which is good news. One of the reasons for Freshways 1st September 2ppl producer price cut was a fall in cream values. The price of cream has recently increased by 2ppl (see below) and coupled with the fact Freshways have presumably achieved a 4ppl customer increases farmers could be in for a price increase.

19/10/19

Sainsbury Tender triggers several farmers fury from those put on a Bosman from Muller to Tomlinson’s

Sainsbury’s held its third Dairy Development Group (SDDG) aligned farmer meeting near Knutsford, Cheshire yesterday (18th) and unlike the previous two SDDG meetings this week it was far from plain sailing with one side of the room having smiley faces and the other side red steaming faces as blood pressure rose. The free movement/transfer of SDDG farmers is the big bone of contention especially those in Cheshire who from 1st October 2020 will cease to be Muller SDDG producers and move on the dairy equivalent of a free Bosman transfer to Tomlinson’s Dairy in Wrexham, Wales.

19/10/19

Medina loose out on all Sainsbury’s Business after only 3 years!

As part of the recent Sainsbury’s tender outcome Medina are set to loose all the business it has had for the past 2 years which will be distributed to Arla and Muller from 1st October 2020 with Tomlinson’s literage more or less remaining the same at circa 90 million litres. All of the Medina SDDG farmers will be moving on a Bosman to Muller or Arla. This is another bitter blow to Medina which is strongly rumoured not to be a price based decision by Sainsbury’s.

19/10/19

The Outlook

The good news is that in the past couple of weeks cream values have risen by around 30p equivalent to over 2ppl in liquid value. The FCStoneMilkprices.comUKMFE forward prices point to firmer prices for both butter & SMP however the continual recovery in the value of sterling is cancelling out most of the uplift. Meanwhile both AMPE & MCVE continue to drift South and allowing for a 2ppl AHDB deliver/collection cost from the farm to the dairy results in a farmgate AMPE or 25.