Saputo Dairy serves notice to more than a dozen producers

Major milk processor Saputo Dairy has confirmed to Farmers Weekly that it has served 12 months’ notice to 13 of its dairy producers in the South West.

It is understood that all of the farmers affected have been informed and were supplying into its Davidstow milk pool.

Based on an average GB milk volume per farm of 1.7m litres a year, more than 20m litres of milk are likely to be left looking for a new home.

Saputo Dairy has confirmed that it affects roughly 3.5% of its Davidstow volume.

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No reason was made public by the processor as to why the producers were served notice, only that the reasons had been disclosed to the individual farms impacted.

The announcement comes at a time of wider consolidation within the dairy sector with just 7,200 GB dairy producers as of October 2024.

However, GB milk supplies have continued to trend at about 3% higher on the year during January, and greater volumes this spring may add further pressure to farmgate milk prices.

Major global dairy processer Saputo acquired Dairy Crest in 2019 and rebranded it to Saputo Dairy UK.

A spokesperson for Saputo Dairy told Farmers Weekly: “Saputo Dairy UK has recently made the decision to serve notice on a small number of our Davidstow-supplying farms.

“This is not something we have taken lightly; however, it is a necessary thing to do for the business as we seek to ensure our milk pool is fit for the future.

“We are offering the impacted farms support during their 12-month notice periods.

“We are incredibly proud of our supplying farms and the high-quality milk they produce for our market-leading cheeses.”

DCD, the dairy producer organisation representing farmers supplying Davidstow Creamery, has spoken out against the decision by Saputo.

Richard Thomas, DCD chairman and farmer, said: “We are pretty upset at the decision to give notice to a number of our members.

“We will support those members in any way we can.

“It is a decision that Saputo has made and we have not been involved in those decisions.”