28th July 2010
Leading local dairy business Dale Farm has to make room in its bulging trophy cabinet having just picked up a clutch of industry awards this month.
At the food ‘Oscars’, The Great Taste Awards, Dale Farm gained ‘Gold Stars’ for its Dromona Mild Cheddar, Dromona Extra Mature Cheddar, Loseley Summer Butter and Rowan Glen Greek Style with Strawberry Yogurt products.
Dale Farm’s Dromona Cheese range was also a star performer at the International Nantwich Cheese Show this week, picking up five awards including a highly coveted Gold award for its Dromona Sliced Mature and two silvers for Dromona Vintage and Dromona Extra Mature.
Head of Marketing for Dale Farm Brian Beattie commented: “Gaining recognition at these events is further proof of our commitment to excellence and quality, having been rigorously judged by experts from within the dairy sector and wider food industry. These awards are a independent seal of approval for our products helping them to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace and support our sales drive into international markets.”
“We’re extremely proud of our entire range of locally produced dairy products, especially our cheese, which continues to gain recognition on a national, and international basis, with our Dromona Extra Mature Cheddar taking home Gold from last year’s World Cheese Awards. These recent achievements are also a win for the first-class farmers of Northern Ireland, who own Dale Farm and supply it with the top quality local milk needed to make these top of the class products.”
28th July 2010
Following the recent sharp price fall at the Fonterra auction, prices were better than expected at this month’s United Dairy Farmers’ auction. The average price was 24.8 pence per litre, down only 0.5 pence on last month’s auction.
“Compared to the major fall in prices at the Fonterra dairy auction earlier this month which equated to over 3 pence per litre in equivalent milk price, this modest drop was a good result for United members,” commented David Dobbin, the United Group Chief Executive.
“After an excellent spring, milk supplies in Northern Ireland are now falling as we move toward the autumn so we had less milk for sale at the auction. This helped offset the impact of falling returns from international markets, and resulted in an average price of 24.80 pence per litre, down only 0.58 pence on last month, but more than 5 pence ahead of the auction in July last year.”
“In the past month returns from global dairy markets have weakened, particularly for milk powders. The 14% fall in prices at the Fonterra auction earlier this month had an immediate impact on international markets and was compounded by a further fall in the value of the US dollar. As it was, the price in the United auction dropped by just over 2%; but this means that our milk price is now well ahead of the returns available from powder markets. Added to that the difficulty of getting price increases from hard pressed consumer markets and it is clear that local processors face a very challenging time in the months ahead as Northern Ireland milk supplies continue to tighten.”
“In the southern hemisphere the new production season is about to begin, with official forecasts suggesting New Zealand output could rise by up to 14%. Despite there being little or no New Zealand product available at this time of the year, the Fonterra auction is having a negative and disproportionate influence on current market prices by selling product that has yet to be produced on future contracts through into 2011. This is adversely affecting the returns that European processors receive for the product they are selling right now,” added David.
In this month’s United auction 45 million litres of milk were sold for August delivery at an average price of 24.80 pence per litre, compared to an average price of 25.38 pence at last month’s auction and 19.54 pence in the July auction last year.
25th June 2010
Milk prices at this month’s United Dairy Farmers milk auction averaged 25.38 pence per litre, down by over one penny on last month’s average, reflecting the impact of the rise in the value of sterling over the past month as well as world markets coming off their peak.
“Although prices at this week’s auction have eased a little, the average price was still over 6 pence above the same time last year, making it the fourth successive month that our auction prices have been over 25 pence per litre. This is very welcome news for our farmers, particularly over the peak supply months of the year. The fall in the auction price relates almost entirely to the strengthening exchange rate, with sterling up approximately 5% and the auction price down by 4%. International markets are also starting to weaken a little as indicated by the recent Fonterra auction, so some reduction in auction prices was anticipated,” said David Dobbin, the United Group Chief Executive.
“Since the last auction sterling has risen in value by close to 5 % against both the both the Dollar and the Euro, reducing export returns by a similar percentage and making Eurozone exports to the UK more competitive.
“Global markets remain relatively firm, but forward powder prices have started to weaken as global milk supplies stage a strong recovery. Milk supplies in the US are again ahead of previous year levels, and supplies in France, Germany, the UK and Ireland are also higher.
After a poor production season in 2009/10, New Zealand is now predicting a strong recovery in the year ahead, and has forecast a 14% increase in supplies. Clearly what happens in New Zealand will have an important impact on markets over the coming winter, as was reflected in the latest Fonterra auction with the lowest prices for long term contracts for the winter ahead and an overall reduction in powder prices of 4%.
In this month’s United auction 53 million litres of milk were sold for July delivery at an average price of 25.38 pence per litre, compared to an average price of 26.53 pence at last month’s auction and 18.83 pence in the June auction last year.
24th June 2010
Dale Farm has become the first Northern Ireland food manufacturing company to sign up to Courtauld Commitment 2 – a UK-wide retail industry agreement to reduce the environmental impact of the grocery sector.
The announcement makes Dale Farm the 32nd company in the UK to sign up to Courtauld Commitment 2, joining many of the biggest grocery retailers and brands.
Mike Mullan, Dale Farm HR and Business Improvement Director, said:
“Dale Farm has a strong commitment to be the best in the dairy industry and in recent years the company has made considerable investments in time and money to reduce its environmental footprint and improve its sustainability. We are now taking our commitment to a new level by signing up to the Courtauld Commitment.
“As a signatory of Courtauld Commitment 2 we have undertaken to work with WRAP, which helps businesses and individuals to reap the benefits of reducing waste, develop sustainable products and use resources in an efficient way. Courtauld 2 aims to reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10; product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain by 5; and household food and drink wastes by 4% by 2012.
“All three of Dale Farm’s Northern Ireland manufacturing sites are accredited to the leading ISO 14001 environmental standard and in the past 12 months we have reduced our energy related carbon by a further 12, following a reduction of 10 in the previous year.”
Iain Garner, WRAP Manager for Northern Ireland, said:
“We are pleased that Dale Farm has become the first Northern Ireland food manufacturer to become a signatory of Courtauld Commitment 2.
“One of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things we buy. It’s no longer enough to look at the impact of packaging alone – that’s why the Courtauld Commitment 2 takes into account the environmental impact of product waste in the supply chain as well as at household level.
"We hope that more companies will soon follow the Dale Farm example.”
Environment Minister Edwin Poots said:
“I am delighted to note Dale Farm has become the first Northern Ireland manufacturer to sign up to the Courtauld Commitment 2. I fully support Courtauld 2 which will contribute to the delivery of my Department’s Waste Strategy through minimising waste packaging and increasing the potential for recycling.
“The new agreement, which builds on the achievements of the first, contains innovative and stretching targets based on clear environmental goals. Meeting these targets should also result in the welcome potential for cost savings on the part of signatories through improvements in resource efficiency – something which is vitally important in these times of economic difficulty.
“I welcome this opportunity to encourage businesses in the food retail and manufacturing sectors operating in Northern Ireland to follow Dale Farm’s lead and sign up to the Commitment in order to reduce the environmental impact of the products we buy.”
Ends
Notes for Editors
1. The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary agreement between WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and major grocery retailers and brand owners.
2. Phase 2 of the Commitment, launched on 4th March 2010, follows the original Courtauld Commitment launched in 2005. Courtauld 2 moves away from solely weight-based targets and aims to achieve more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain. More information on the targets and signatories are available from www.wrap.org.uk/courtauld
3. All three Dale Farm production sites in Northern Ireland have been awarded ISO 14001 environmental accreditation, and at the 2009 NI Environment Agency Sustainable Ireland Awards Dale Farm won the Energy Efficiency Award. The company also gained ‘Quintile One’ status in the latest NI Arena Network Environment Benchmarking survey.
For further information please contact Kelly McKee at Morrow Communications,
Tel: 028 9039 38387 or Jon Molyneux, Press and PR Manager, WRAP Northern Ireland 01786 468 894 / 07816 636 936 jon.molyneux@wrap.org.uk
24th May 2010
Auction price increases despite EU decision to release intervention stock
Milk prices at this at this month’s United Dairy Farmers milk auction edged up by 0.5 pence per litre to average 26.53 pence despite an announcement on the same day that the EU plans to sell further intervention powder and butter by tender in early June.
“Although we are still in the peak milk supply period of the year our auction price has increased for the third successive month. This increase is welcome news for farmers especially when viewed against the background of a recovery in local milk supply, the announced release of additional EU intervention powder and butter in June and the recent gain in the value of sterling versus the Euro. Prices at the auction were supported by forward sold contracts and a favourable dollar exchange rate,” said David Dobbin, the United Group Chief Executive.
“However skimmed powder markets have already softened following the EU Commission decision to sell 66,000 tonnes skimmed milk powder and 25,000 tonnes of butter from intervention by tender. This decision was clearly aimed at preventing markets overheating, which in 2007 resulted in a boom and bust cycle. Hopefully this time markets will remain firm but there will inevitably be some downward effect in the months ahead,” explained David, “especially as the Commission is also just about to release other substantial quantities of butter and powder from intervention for needy persons within the EU.
“Prior to the Commission announcement, global dairy markets had been holding firm, with limited product supplies and strong demand, particularly from China. Returns have also been helped by the fall in the value of sterling against the US Dollar, however sterling has strengthened against the Euro, reducing returns from EU markets.”
There are clear signs that milk production is now beginning to respond to higher prices and better weather, with local milk supply now running ahead of last year and US supplies 1.5% ahead of last year’s levels in April. Demand from China, where imports rose by 60% in the first quarter of 2010, is unlikely to be sustained at the current level. And with some traders already indicating that they are going to wait until the outcome of the intervention tender before confirming new orders, the Commission must be very careful not to upset the delicate market balance before New Zealand production begins to ramp up in the autumn,” said David.
In this month’s auction 52 million litres of milk were sold for May delivery at an average price of 26.53 pence per litre, compared to an average price of 26.09 pence at last month’s auction and 19.22 pence in the April auction last year.