Meadow Foods has acquired the liquid business of Fayrefield Liquids. Meadow has had a close trading relationship with Fayrefield over many years, processing the majority of its milk and collecting milk from farm.
Fayrefield has written to all farmers impacted to inform them of the change and Meadow Foods has also written to impacted farmers including an information pack about the company.
Farmers will be offered the choice of staying on the Fayrefield contract or moving across to the Meadow Foods contract. There are important differences between the contracts, including a 1ppl penalty at Fayrefield for being on notice. The milk supply will move from Fayrefields to Meadow Foods on 1 September 2017.
Click here for an NFU briefing providing guidance to members supplying Fayrefield (members only - you will be asked to log in)
Michael Oakes, NFU dairy board chairman, said:
"The important thing now is that farmers are fully aware of what this change means for them and I’m glad to see Meadow Foods organise meetings in the regions impacted. If you are a farmer that currently supplies Fayrefield please make every effort to attend these meetings or speak to Meadow Foods directly. The NFU will support members with any queries on this issue but this change does bring to the fore the need for better farmer representation.
Neither Meadow Foods nor Fayrefield work with a farmer group to discuss and consult on changes, and with the Meadow Foods supply now expanding even further we see it’s even more vital that there is a democratically elected group to represent Meadow Foods farmers and work with the company in delivering their future strategy."