Market report: Retail milk sales up but discounting pushes value down

Liquid milk sales in Great Britain increased by 1.5% in volume during the year to 31 October, but total value dropped by 3.7% due to lower retail prices.

Latest data from analyst Kantar Worldpanel reveal that milk sales totalled 5.1bn litres, 75m litres higher than the previous year. But sales by value fell to £3.3bn, with average retail prices down by 5%, or 3.4p/litre, over the same period. “Generally, liquid milk has been subject to on-going discounting by the major retailers over the past 12 months in a bid to retain or grow market share, and, as a result, average milk prices for liquid milk have declined each month across the 12-month period,” said a DairyCo report.

Doorstep sales accounted for 5% of the total volume of milk sold, a drop of 15.4%, year-on-year. – Filtered milk showed the largest increase, up by 14.4%, to represent 6.8% of all milk sold. Filtered milk prices also increased on a monthly basis. However, organic sales fell by 2.5% in volume, and by 3.4% in value terms.