Wholesale price of Jersey Dairy milk rises by 15 pence per litre

It’s not yet known which local supermarkets and stores will pass on the increase to their customers at the tills, or which, if any, will absorb the increase themselves.

The increase came into effect on Monday, 9 January 2023, and, by the following morning, one consumer told us that they’d already seen an increase of 17 pence per litre in one supermarket overnight.

Jersey Dairy blames ‘significant increases in farm costs over the last year’ and says: ‘The Russian invasion of Ukraine, global trade barriers (including Brexit) and Chinese COVID-19 lockdowns have all caused supply chain issues, market volatility and sharply moving currency exchange rates, creating uncertainties, and impacting costs at Jersey Dairy and on Jersey dairy farms.’

In a statement on their website, they added: “The level of cost increases on local dairy farms, particularly fuel, imported feed, fertiliser, and wages are continuing to hit farms hard.

“Jersey Dairy has also been subjected to significant inflationary cost increases on raw materials, packaging, fuel, energy, etc. During 2022, Jersey Dairy has implemented significant price rises to export markets to finance these escalating costs, with more increases planned for 2023.”

It’s the second time in less than a year that the price of wholesale milk has increased, after it rose by eight pence per litre in February last year, which at the time was blamed on farming costs rising at a ‘magnitude not seen for many years’.

Eamon Fenlon, Managing Director of Jersey Dairy, commented: “All of the income raised from this price increase will be passed back to our dairy farmers, however, this will be insufficient to address in full the farm profitability issue that has been identified, and hence price increases will also be implemented in our export markets. The Government are also exploring how they can play their part in addressing the situation.”