Between April 2014 and April 2015, the price of dairy products received by dairies and food producers fell by 15.6 per cent while the price paid by consumers fell by just 3.3 per cent.
NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said: "While the the producer price index shows clearly what’s happened to the farmgate milk price over the last year due to an imbalance in global supply and demand, the story isn’t the same for the consumer price. Whilst liquid milk prices have been heavily and ruthlessly discounted at retail as the big supermarkets try to compete with the discounters during the ongoing price war, this hasn’t happened to the same degree on other dairy products.
“We want more retailers to follow the lead of Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, M&S and the Co-operative in acting responsibly and paying a sustainable price for their liquid milk supplies. This concept now needs to be rolled out to cover other dairy products to help guarantee a better future for British dairy farmers.”