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- Dairy package announced
- Indulge for dairy farmers
- Fund set up for dairy farmers
- Farmers to be paid higher milk prices
- Class action filed against dairy giant Murray Goulburn
- No choice but to sell up
- Milk meeting ‘productive’
- Dairy company to meet suppliers
- Murray Goulburn chief Gary Helou resigns, profit downgraded
Major supermarkets are struggling to cope with demand for branded milk as buyers rush to support the dairy industry.
Social media has been awash with images of dairy fridges depleted of branded products, but buoyant with cheaper, home brand stock.
The images have elicited outrage from some social media users, who have interpreted the lack of options as a ploy by supermarkets.
Both Coles and Woolworths have attributed the shortage of branded milk to a spike in demand, yet to be met by an increase in supply.
“Our stores have experienced a noticeable increase in demand for branded milk in the last few days,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.
“We are working together with our suppliers to respond to that change in customer demand as quickly as possible given our customers’ desire for choice.”
A Coles spokesperson denied there was any preferential stocking at play.
“Coles has not made any changes to the way we replenish our milk range,” they said.
“Over the weekend, many of our stores sold out of branded milk due to increased demand.
“As a result, many stores have increased their orders of branded milk.”
The spokesperson said the goal of Coles was to provide customers with choice at prices they could trust.
“That is why we sell a number of brands of milk across Australia,” they said.
Tongala dairy farmer Neil Pankhurst was pleased people were throwing their support behind the dairy industry and encouraged them to continue.
“It’s a shame it’s taken the crisis to get people to do it,” he said.
“People have always had that option of buying the branded milk, which sells for more than the cheaper milk.”
By exercising their buyer’s choice, Mr Pankhurst said consumers were putting pressure on supermarkets to pay more for milk so the industry would be viable long-term.
“The Australian domestic market is relatively small – it is not big enough to support the dairy industry itself,” he said.
“That’s why we are reliant on and exposed to the export market.
“So it is important that people do support the industry where they can with the domestic product.”
Mr Pankhurst’s dairy supplies “700-odd thousand litres of milk a year” to dairy giant Murray Goulburn, which has a contract with Coles.
“We don’t supply fresh milk to the supermarkets, but certainly some of the Victorian milk goes into UHT milk, cheeses and other dairy products,” he said.
Dairy farmers have been hit hard recently by major processors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra slashing the prices they pay for milk, compounding the stresses inflicted by drought.
“It just makes you look at your business and what your future direction is,” Mr Pankhurst said.
“I certainly see positives for the future of the dairy industry - this is just another challenge along the way.”
The state government and the Victorian dairy industry have united to deliver an $11.4 million support package for dairy farmers affected by the global fall in milk prices and decisions by some processors to cut the prices paid to their suppliers.
Within the past week, Coles supermarket has announced a support fund for dairy farmers and ANZ Bank has launched support measures.
Last week, the state government announced a $1.5 million mental health package for dairy farmers.
Central Victorian radio stations 3BO and Star FM are calling on residents and businesses to crack open a bottle of wine and, more importantly, pass around a platter of Australian-produced cheese this Friday evening to shape Bendigo’s Biggest Wine and Cheese Night, in support of embattled dairy farmers
Businesses that get involved can use the hashtag #thisisbendigo on social media to show off their efforts.