First Milk - food industry company news 
UK: First Milk chairman Mustoe to step down
5 April 2013
The chairman of First Milk, Bill Mustoe, has announced his intention to step down at the group's AGM in October.
UK: First Milk to up milk price for farmers
30 November 2012
First Milk is to further raise the standard price it pays producers in its liquid, cheese and balancing milk pools.
UK: First Milk makes further milk price increase
2 October 2012
First Milk is to further raise the standard price it pays producers in its balancing milk pool.
UK: Tesco to raise milk price
21 September 2012
Tesco has announced that it is to raise the price it pays farmers in the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) for milk.
UK: First Milk ups milk price
20 September 2012
First Milk is to raise the standard price it pays producers in its liquid milk pool by 2.6p per litre to 28.65p per litre.
UK: Arla to begin local production of Anchor butter
31 August 2012
Arla Foods is to start producing Anchor butter in the UK next month.
UPDATE: UK: Iceland agrees to talks amid dairy protests
3 August 2012
Iceland Foods has agreed to talks with UK dairy farmers after the retailer was targeted by a fresh round of protests last night.
UK: Dairy farmer protests target Iceland, Farmfoods
3 August 2012
Protests by UK farmers over the price of milk last night (2 August) targeted discount retailers Iceland Foods and Farmfoods.
UK: Farmers warn milk protests could continue
31 July 2012
UK dairy farmer protests over milk prices could continue, despite processors last week reversing plans to cut prices this week.
Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words
30 July 2012
Major food multinationals last week reported their first-half results. Unilever saw food volumes fall, PepsiCo insisted it had "momentum" in Europe, Hershey believed US candy had reached a new growth phase and Danone faced criticism from analysts. Elsewhere, the UK milk farmers' protests appeared to pay off, with processors shelving plans for price cuts.
UPDATE: UK: Wiseman shelves milk price cut
27 July 2012
Robert Wiseman Dairies has confirmed it will shelve plans to cut the price it pays for milk following talks with farmers and its retail customers.
UK: Wiseman in talks to solve milk price feud
27 July 2012
Robert Wiseman Dairies is in talks with the National Farmers Union and its customers over its plans to cut the price it pays for milk as farmer anger centres on the Muller-owned processor.
UK: Arla U-turn on milk price cut
27 July 2012
Arla Foods has become the next UK dairy processor to reveal it will no longer implement plans to cut milk prices next week.
UK: First Milk "withdraws" plan for price cut
26 July 2012
UK co-op First Milk will not cut the price it pays for milk on 1 August, pledging to help develop "better structures" across the industry after weeks of anger from farmers.
UK: M&S predicts price hike as weather hits crops
11 July 2012
Marks and Spencer has said it expects the extreme weather conditions in the UK are likely to have an affect on crops, potentially leading to a spike in prices.
UK: Farmers plan action over milk price cuts
5 July 2012
UK dairy farmers are preparing to take action in protest against the "crippling" price cuts that were announced by the country's largest dairy processors last week.
UK: Arla Foods makes largest cut to milk price
4 July 2012
Arla Foods has implemented the largest cut yet of three other major UK milk processors in the last week to have reduced their farmgate milk prices.
UK: First Milk next to cut milk prices
4 July 2012
First Milk is the latest UK milk supplier to announce a cut to its farmgate milk price in the last week.
UK: First Milk FY profits climb
18 June 2012
UK dairy co-op First Milk has booked an increase in full-year profits, boosted by earnings from the sale on its shareholding in Wiseman Dairies.
Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words
8 May 2012
Bright Food, the Chinese food group, was full of confidence this week about the prospects for UK cereal firm Weetabix, its first investment in Europe after missing out on companies including United Biscuits and Yoplait. Elsewhere, Orkla explained why its CEO had resigned from the Norwegian consumer goods group, German retailer Metro Group insisted its sales were improving after it reported a quarterly loss and UK peer Morrisons said it would not chase unprofitable volumes despite a fall in like-for-like sales.
UK: First Milk buys sports nutrition firm CNP Professional
2 May 2012
UK dairy co-op First Milk has entered the sports nutrition sector with the acquisition of local firm CNP Professional.
GERMANY/UK: Muller seals Wiseman takeover
7 February 2012
German dairy giant Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has declared its takeover bid for Robert Wiseman Dairies "unconditional" after securing almost 94% of the UK milk supplier's shares.
UK: Muller secures more Wiseman shares
18 January 2012
Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has secured more shares in UK milk supplier Robert Wiseman Dairies, which earlier this week agreed to a GBP280m (US$430.2m) takeover bid from the German yoghurt maker.
GERMANY/UK: Wiseman board backs sale to Muller
16 January 2012
German yoghurt maker Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has made a GBP279.5m takeover bid to buy UK milk supplier Robert Wiseman Dairies, the companies announced this morning (16 January).
Best bits: Muller faces challenges in UK milk sector
16 January 2012
Muller and Robert Wiseman Dairies are talking up the benefits of the German yoghurt maker's planned takeover of the UK milk supplier but profits in the sector have been under pressure in recent months.
UK: First Milk announces cheese facility
11 January 2012
A total of 100 jobs across 38 farms are safe after UK dairy co-operative First Milk announced a new cheese-making facility in Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre.
Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words
12 September 2011
Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips this week insisted the UK retailer had been able to adapt to the tough trading conditions in the country. In the US, PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston said high inflation and low growth was forcing all FMCG companies to reassess their strategies.
Editor's choice: the highlights on just-food this week
12 September 2011
The slowdown in the UK economy appears to be helping one business. This week, Morrisons revealed financial results that showed it was adapting better to the challenging trading conditions than its rivals. Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, leading US executives indicated how tough the economic environment is in the US. Click on the headlines for more.
NZ/UK: Fonterra, First Milk sign whey protein JV
5 September 2011
Fonterra, the New Zealand dairy giant, has signed a deal to make whey proteins with UK co-op First Milk.
Best bits: Pessimism in promotion-mad UK
1 August 2011
With growth slowing in the UK, retail sales volumes down and promotions on the increase, even the better performing food manufacturers can betray a note of pessimism, writes Dean Best.
