Chewing the Cud on the UK Cheddar Market

Some breaking news from Chris this week with haulage company Lloyd Fraser, who collect milk from a number of processors, announcing they are going into liquidation, as well as a much more positive milk market report than we’ve been hearing recently. Will and Ben are then joined by John Allen, Kite Director, Erik Elgersma from Strategic Analysis Services BV and our very own dairy market analyst Chris Walkland to take a look at and discuss the current unsustainable conditions of the cheddar market as a new report was launched last week written by our guests. They discuss the main points in the report which they hope will help the supply chain better understand the sector and explain why ‘it’s different this time’ highlighting that if money cannot be recovered from the market, and it continues to disregard the cost to producers to deliver sustainability goals, then UK cheese makers may look to sell abroad. Chris puts the current cheese situation into context, looking back at the markets over the years before they look further at the bigger picture; what we can learn from domestic consumption as well as export opportunities. The report and todays discussion gives a stark warning to retailers about the risks of adopting a short term strategy and failing to recognise the value of UK cheese producers!