Müller's announcement that it had launched an agreed takeover of Britain's "leading" liquid milk supplier Robert Wiseman Dairies was the biggest surprise of the past month.
The UK is the third largest dairy producer in Europe but it pays farmers the third worst price for its milk. No wonder producers are more inclined to bottle out than bottle it.
Lobby group Farmers for Action (FFA) says its bold plan to build a processing plant to turn liquid milk into powder for export will see British farmers “take control” of the milk marketplace.
Asda’s margin-crushing promotional activity on liquid milk has prompted a wave of price-cutting that has contributed to “a material destruction of category profitability”, according to one City analyst.
Dairy manufacturers and supermarkets will receive a welcome boost to their coffers in the form of a rebate from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) this summer after the watchdog agreed to reduce fines in its price-fixing probe.
