Milk Price Tracker

[jackrussell101]

I’ve heard of letters being sent out of a 3ppl arla price drop? Anyone received anything yet? We haven’t?

If that is true, Arla would still be ahead of Muller

 

[Sid]

If that is true, Arla would still be ahead of Muller

With currency effect let's not forget that.

Both Muller and Arla made losses in their UK businesses last year don't forget.

 

[DairyGrazing]

Very useful reading on developments

http://www.ipaquotas.com/QUOTANEWS.htm

From the little I know Muller are not telling you guys the full story so I would be on the phone Monday if I were you.

Could you spell in out for the simpletons please.

 

[jimmer]

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O
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[Courier]

Could they not have set you all a monthly target, and then paid zero or negative for litres delivered above that?

Then they would be short over the month end ??‍

 

[betweenthelines]

Correct. The 5ppl headline spot price was very short lived

The clue is in the name!

"Spot" is just that- the price given or received for temporary shortages or excess on the day

 

[betweenthelines]

Yes, how do Muller manage other years, considering they said they had extra demand and that there are still reports of shortage of milk in some outlets. Do they have enough processing capacity to cover the spring flush in other years or do they usually have to drop some on the spot market? 15/16 ppl doesn’t sound too bad a spot price for the time of year and if only 3% over capacity wouldn’t make a great deal of a negative impact to average milk prices especially at a time when they are scaling back prices for anyone more than 5% above rolling 11 month average production which no doubt some are.

Muller/DC produce virtually every dairy product except cheese-yogurts, flavoured milk, cream, butter, and along with Arla have most of the supermarket volume, so a spring flush or change in outlet (foodservice down, retail up) should be manageable. My contacts tell me that the problem is not volume off the farms, but staff shortages in the big factories-Droitwich and Manchester.

Flavoured milk has a very long shelf life so if the will is there, turning 3% of the intake into milk shakes shouldn't be a problem. In fact, at the time of the DC takeover it was said by some at Muller that the in" into the flavoured milk market that came with DC was a major coup-highly profitable and a way to mop up temporary surpluses!

However, OH reports that there's actually a shortage of flavoured milk on the shelves atm!

 

[Grazer]

If that is true, Arla would still be ahead of Muller

That's the attitude. I'm getting more than him. ?‍

 

[Mr Mackay]

Muller/DC produce virtually every dairy product except cheese-yogurts, flavoured milk, cream, butter, and along with Arla have most of the supermarket volume, so a spring flush or change in outlet (foodservice down, retail up) should be manageable. My contacts tell me that the problem is not volume off the farms, but staff shortages in the big factories-Droitwich and Manchester.

Flavoured milk has a very long shelf life so if the will is there, turning 3% of the intake into milk shakes shouldn't be a problem. In fact, at the time of the DC takeover it was said by some at Muller that the in" into the flavoured milk market that came with DC was a major coup-highly profitable and a way to mop up temporary surpluses!

However, OH reports that there's actually a shortage of flavoured milk on the shelves atm!

Muller make butter too I am very very reliably told

 

[Sid]

Muller make butter too I am very very reliably told

Correct, almost every dairy would as it's an outlet for fat.

Seen their butter in bookers by the box

 

[pappuller]

Muller make butter too I am very very reliably told

That was the first investment made by Muller when they took over Wiseman's, a new butter plant to take the volatility out of the job ?[emoji848]

 

[pastit]

That's the attitude. I'm getting more than him. ?‍

That is part of our problem. there are farmers out there that if they were getting 20ppl as long as there neighbour was only getting 19ppl they wold think they were getting a good deal?

 

[Scholsey]

That is part of our problem. there are farmers out there that if they were getting 20ppl as long as there neighbour was only getting 19ppl they wold think they were getting a good deal?

The whole problem was some farmers wanted 20ppl when everyone else was getting 19ppl.

 

[pastit]

The whole problem was some farmers wanted 20ppl when everyone else was getting 19ppl.

Yes whichever way you look at it.

 

[peclova]

Yes whichever way you look at it.

NO! You were correct the first time, when you said " there are farmers out there that if they were getting 20ppl as long as there neighbour was only getting 19ppl they wold think they were getting a good deal" . This is precisely why we are where we are with UK milk pricing.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking more for your hard work and investment. What is wrong is having to take less when the end-user would actually pay more if they could.

 

[betweenthelines]

NO! You were correct the first time, when you said " there are farmers out there that if they were getting 20ppl as long as there neighbour was only getting 19ppl they wold think they were getting a good deal" . This is precisely why we are where we are with UK milk pricing.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking more for your hard work and investment. What is wrong is having to take less when the end-user would actually pay more if they could.

But farmers need to remember that the end user is the shopper, not the supermarket of the processor.

Very few shoppers would baulk at paying an extra 5 or 10 pence for a 4 pinter if they knew that was going to the farmer and not a middleman (literally) creaming off extra margin.

The trouble is that the supermarkets use milk as a pull to increase footfall "4 pints- £1.25" is a good attention grabber. They'd use bread but every shopper knows that a discount loaf is low quality, --tasteless and smaller than a standard loaf-there's no such thing as low quality milk!

And milk is a highly profitable product to discount. For every pound spent on milk, the shopper will spend something like another £50 in the store

 

[betweenthelines]

With currency effect let's not forget that.

Both Muller and Arla made losses in their UK businesses last year don't forget.

I would take Muller accounts with a pinch of salt. As the whole business is owned by a single individual, there is no obligation to supply audited accounts to shareholders or members. Even those working for Herr Muller find it very difficult to get accurate info even on their sector of the business. Very frustrating when part of their salary is financial performance related- as in "Your dept made a loss last year so no profit share" "Can we see the figures?" "No that's confidential as it's the owner's personal information"

 

[More to life]

But farmers need to remember that the end user is the shopper, not the supermarket of the processor.

Very few shoppers would baulk at paying an extra 5 or 10 pence for a 4 pinter if they knew that was going to the farmer and not a middleman (literally) creaming off extra margin.

The trouble is that the supermarkets use milk as a pull to increase footfall "4 pints- £1.25" is a good attention grabber. They'd use bread but every shopper knows that a discount loaf is low quality, --tasteless and smaller than a standard loaf-there's no such thing as low quality milk!

And milk is a highly profitable product to discount. For every pound spent on milk, the shopper will spend something like another £50 in the store

Your contradicting your self, first you say shoppers would happily pay more for milk. Then its price sensitive and used as a loss leader to increase foot fall. It can’t do both and unfortunately it’s the latter.

 

[s line]

I thought Morrisons only a couple of years ago were doing a farmer milk.

 

[Beef farmer]

I thought Morrisons only a couple of years ago were doing a farmer milk.

Given an option, it wouldnt have sold very well