Dairy farmers at home and across Europe are having a milk crisis. As usual, price is the issue.
Some farmers are so fed up with supermarkets squeezing them for more milk at lower prices that they’re throwing in the towel – by dumping a day’s worth of milking. Doris Robertson, from Dairy Farmers of Scotland, will spread her daily supply of 2,000 litres over fields and feed her cows with it. Such farmers feel they’re basically dumping their milk anyway when they give it away for profits that hardly match the cost of producing it.
Such a scenario nearly put Nick Gosling out of business…
When we met Nick and his wife Christine, Berkeley Farm Dairy was about to be put up for sale. Luckily, we were on the hunt for a milk supplier at the time. We now take 80% of the milk from the Gosling’s Guernsey herd, and of course, we don’t mess around with his prices!
Hear Nick tell his story on our video clip here…
The milk price issue is now having a profound effect on other dairy products, namely Britain’s most famous: cheddar! Next time you are in the supermarket, take a closer look at the blocks of the hard yellow cheese, which has been produced in England since at least 1170. A good number of them are imported. Figures from DairyCo, the body that campaigns for the UK’s dairy industry, reveal that between January and June we imported 62,003 tonnes of cheddar compared with 48,633 tonnes in the same period last year.
We’re throwing our support behind our organic cheddar makers Lye Cross and Green’s. Since the summer, we’ve increased our cheddar range – we now have grated cheddar made from the scraps from cutting the truckles, we have a mini cheese selection for children and we’ll be adding many more to our range in the coming months. Watch this space, and try to make sure you always buy British cheddar!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
19 Jan 2010 at 14:12
I have paid that little bit extra to purchase a mature cheddar from Abel and Cole and the difference in taste to the supermarket cheese is incredible . Just like cheese used to taste !!
24 Jan 2010 at 15:19
Supermarkets are just greedy buggers and people should support our British Farners more , tell your neighbours and friends to buy from Able & Cole and your local farm shops – stuff the supermarkets !!! Thats my rant for the day .
27 Jan 2010 at 12:08
I agree that it’s good to by-pass supermarkets but some A & C prices seem high – £2.59 for 3 organic lemons, which I can get for half that price at a local health store. Sorry for the sour note, blame the lemons!
29 Jan 2010 at 13:33
I agree with Gail regarding the high prices of some of Abel&Cole’s produce such as their meat and fish. I think the med fruit and med veg box are reasonable when compare for like-for-like with tesco, and I feel great satisfaction at not having to buy from the money-mill that are supermarkets. Also Abel&Cole’s milk and cheddar are AMAZING!
02 Feb 2010 at 19:29
I get your points about prices but if we all bypassed supermarkets then maybe able& cole could be as big as them and offer lower prices – food for thought .
07 Feb 2010 at 18:26
i am a health visitor and i have taken samples of cheese and milk to work for children and parents to try and have used some of your recipes to encouage parents with healthy weaning foods thank you!
10 Feb 2010 at 17:33
The cheese and butter are amazing. I thought that the good food from my childhood had disappeared for the ‘God’ profit but Abel and Cole have changed all that and i now feel 100% physically better.
Power to their commitment to organics.
10 Feb 2010 at 22:07
I love the food from Abel and Cole and try to buy British when ever I can. Why is it that the organic fruit and veg from Abel and Cole tastes so much better than the organic produce in the super market? I now tell everyone i meet about Abel and Cole.
21 Feb 2010 at 22:07
It was Berkley farm cream that amazed me. I was surprised that I could tell the difference. I had been using Yeo Valley organic cream but after I tried the stuff that Nick Gosling at Berkley was producing I never went back. It tastes sweeter. Its shelf life may be a day less but I just use it while it’s fresh and it’s gone before it gets past its best. I love it.
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