Ask your processor if they are signed up to code

One year on from the #SOSDairy campaign, the NFU has revealed which processors have signed up to the Dairy Industry Code of Best Practice for Contractual Relations, ahead of the Livestock and Dairy event at the NEC on July 3-4.

An advert in The Grocer magazine lists who has signed up to the code, while those not signed up are detailed on the NFU website. With over 85 per cent of the processing market now signed up to the code of practice, the NFU believes it has been a success and marks real progress after years of NFU lobbying for contracts that will deliver fairness, and balance, to its members in their relationships with processors, day-in and day-out and for years to come.

NFU President Peter Kendall said: “Without doubt, the British dairy industry is in a better place now than it was 12 months ago, when price cut after price cut was forcing farmers to breaking point and there were genuine worries about the future of the industry.

“What we have done in the last year with the Dairy Coalition is to work really hard to get to a place where the industry can stand on its feet again, and the code of practice is a vital tool to ensure this happens.

“Signing up to the code means that farmers have flexibility in contracts they have never had before, encourages healthy competition within the market and also sends a clear message about the future of the industry. It gives confidence to people wanting to invest in British dairy and shows that people understand how important this industry is to the nation.

“We urge those not signed up to the code to do so now. Our cards are on the table. And our message to retailers and farmers alike is the same. If your processor is not on this list, you need to go to them and find out why they are not.

“Only when everyone is signed up can we have a fair, unified and profitable dairy industry that benefits the whole chain and will give us all an industry we can be proud of.”

Notes to editors

1.Processors signed up to the code are:

Arla Food UK

Cotteswold Dairy

Cricketer Farms

Dairy Crest

First Milk

Lactalis, McLelland – ‘The fresh milk company’

Longley Farm Dairy

Lye Cross Farm

Muller-Wiseman

Parkham Farms