Tesco announce investment in Britain’s dairy farmers

British supermarket giant Tesco has announced that it will invest £6 million over two years to help support British agriculture.

The retailer has created the new Tesco Cheese Group (TCG), which will guarantee dairy farmers an above market price for the milk they produce for Tesco’s British own-label mild, medium, mature, extra mature, red Leicester and double Gloucester cheese.

The move will deliver a fair and consistent pricing model for UK farmers, and will provide them with the security and ability to plan ahead for the future.

Commercial director for fresh food Matt Simister said: “We have created this new cheese group to help us to meet customers needs whilst also establishing a long term sustainable livelihood for our farmers.  By providing them with the assurance of our commitment, we are hoping to give our producers the confidence to invest so that they can deliver what customers are looking for in an efficient way.

“It is our hope that up to 200 more dairy farms across Britain who produce milk for our British cheese, in addition to the 600 producing milk through the TSDG, can work with us in partnership to create a successful and sustainable future for their production.”

Parkham Farms have worked with Tesco for over a decade, Peter Willes, owner of the company commented: “Over the past 15 year’s Parkham Farms has been proud to supply our great tasting cheese to Tesco. The new pricing model will ensure that we and our farmers are paid a premium price above that of the market reflecting the quality of our cheese and the milk that goes into it.

“We believe it will provide a long term and sustainable structure to help build our relationship with Tesco even further.”