28 July 2011Dairy Crest committed to a sustainable future for British Farmers

Dairy Crest are committed to a sustainable future for British Farmers and the British Dairy Industry, we are proud of our links to the countryside, our dairy heritage and the part these play in everyday life.

In the UK we only source milk from British farms - around 73% of our milk comes form our direct supplying farmers and we are actively working to increase this towards 85%.  We pay our farmer suppliers a fair and competitive milk price and offer a range of additional support services providing advice and support on key issues such as legislation, animal health & welfare and the environment.

We have a strong working relationship with our farmers which is greatly valued by the business. Our aim is to adopt a partnership approach by working together to meet future industry challenges, increase efficiency and capture new market opportunities.

We work very closely with Dairy Crest Direct (DCD), the independent democratic organisation representing all our suppliers.  DCD are involved at all levels of the Dairy Crest business and regularly meet with our management team

We fund the White Gold Service which is an independent advisory service to help our farmers achieve and maintain farm assurance status and meet legislative requirements efficiently

To further support our suppliers in meeting efficiency and environmental targets, Agri assist (an innovative joint venture agreement with DCD) has developed a specialist on-line carbon measurement tool for suppliers.   Agri assist is the first example of a farmer group and a plc working together outside of the traditional milk operation and demonstrates our partnership approach with DCD. This new business will focus on developing environmental initiatives and farm efficiencies , as well as identifying opportunities for revenue generation to help ensure future sustainability.