With four pints available for as little as 89 pence, the study has found that 85% of British people drink standard cow’s milk and half (51 per cent) of those would be prepared to pay more than £1 for a four-pint bottle of milk. On average, shoppers say they would be willing to pay £1.28 for a bottle of this size.
The research also found that one in ten has used soya milk*, while seven per cent have used other plant-based milks such as almond, rice or oat milk, five per cent have used a lactose-free cow’s milk and four per cent have used another animal milk such as goat or buffalo milk.
NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said: “It’s heartening that the British public is willing to pay more for liquid milk at a time when farmgate milk prices are, for the majority of British dairy farmers, under the cost of production. Thankfully, a few retailers (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose and The Co-operative) have put in place mechanisms to better support farmers supplying them with liquid milk – in the short term these farmers aren’t impacted by the recent retailer price wars. We need more retailers to put in place support mechanisms on liquid milk, but also on other dairy products. It is important that processors and retailers give farmers a sustainable and fair price for milk.
“Long term the discounting of liquid milk is harmful to the whole industry as it removes value from an already highly competitive market. This affects dairy farmers and processors; restricts innovation and investment at all levels; and puts long term security of supply at risk; all of which will not be in consumers’ interests in the long run. This can also be seen in Mintel’s research where processors have moved their focus to non-dairy drinks as they cannot drive a profit in the dairy sector.
“We’d call for innovation in liquid milk processing – we’ve already seen Arla launch Big Milk this year – and we need others to follow suit to ensure that there is a sustainable future for British dairy farmers, and that they can keep supplying consumers with fresh liquid milk every day of the year.”