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Robert Wiseman Dairies

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The UK liquid milk sector is experiencing an ongoing decline in value sales. Despite gradually increasing volumes, the price being paid for milk is dropping. As a consequence, milk producers find themselves struggling to turn a profit in the category. In part one of our Category Crunch, Katy Askew looks at the dynamics shaping the UK's liquid milk market.

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The downward movement of liquid milk prices has placed margins in the category under mounting pressure. In part two of our Category Crunch, Katy Askew looks at how the country's three largest milk processors - Dairy Crest, Arla and Robert Wiseman - are responding to this challenge.

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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.

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Two of the UK's largest dairy companies - Robert Wiseman Dairies and Dairy Crest - delivered their annual results this week and a comparison between the two makes for some interesting reading. Robert Wiseman reported a near 30% plunge in profits as its liquid milk business was hit by poor trading conditions, while Dairy Crest showed the benefits of being a broad-based dairy firm, delivering a 5% increase in profits. Katy Humphries takes a closer look.

Arla Foods and Milk Link have revealed plans to merge their operations in the UK. If approved, the combined entity would become the largest dairy processor in the market. In this month's just-food interview, Peter Lauritzen, CEO of Arla UK, and Neil Kennedy, chief executive of Milk Link, speak to Katy Askew about the benefits the proposal would bring the companies and their farmer-owners.

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Arla Foods' UK arm published its first environmental report this month, setting out the company's achievements in reducing its impact on the environmen and targets for the future. Ben Cooper spoke with the dairy firm's environment, health and safety manager Robin Dearden.

Our interviews with senior United Biscuits executives - in the year the company's owners agreed to sell the UK snack maker to Turkey's Yildiz Holding - featured highly on the list of 2014's most-clicked interviews on just-food. Interviews with the CEOs of the UK's Premier Foods and Canada's Agropur, as well as the CFOs of Arla Foods and Brazil's BRF were also popular as we continued to gain access to some of the industry's leading lights.

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German dairy giant Müller has insisted its move to buy Dairy Crest's dairies operations will help the entire UK sector, from farmers to consumers.

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Dairy Crest is to sell its dairies division - including the Frijj brand - to German giant Müller.

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Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan made another investment in the UK with the acquisition of Burton's Biscuit Co. In Australia, grocery retailing giants Woolworths and Coles signed up to a code of conduct governing their relationship with suppliers. And we ran our latest just-food interview, with Patrick Coveney, CEO of private-label convenience food group Greencore.

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German dairy giant Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has acquired the UK operations of Austrian rival Nom, as it looks to expand its presence in the country's private label yoghurt market.

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UK milk supplier Muller Wiseman Dairies has said it may close two depots as it readjusts to the way milk is now delivered to retail customers.

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Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has confirmed plans to invest GBP17m (US$27.3m) in a new UK facility that will see the company move into butter manufacturing in the country.

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Analysts at Experian believe that overseas investment will maintain the momentum of mergers and acquisitions in the UK food sector.

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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.

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Late on Friday, India's government stunned the country with a wave of reforms, including the return of plans to ease restrictions on foreign investment into the retail sector. Further east, Japanese conglomerate Itochu Corp. confirmed it was in talks to buy Dole Food Co. assets - and expansion in China could be a factor in its interest.

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Robert Wiseman Dairies has become the latest UK dairy processor to announce an increase in the price it pays farmers for milk.

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UK milk supplier Robert Wiseman Dairies has insisted it will look to bring more transparency to how it determines the price it pays farmers after a tense summer in the sector.

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Protests by UK farmers over the price of milk last night (15 August) targeted dairy giant Arla Foods.

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Iceland Foods has agreed to talks with UK dairy farmers after the retailer was targeted by a fresh round of protests last night.

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Protests by UK farmers over the price of milk last night (2 August) targeted discount retailers Iceland Foods and Farmfoods.

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UK dairy farmer protests over milk prices could continue, despite processors last week reversing plans to cut prices this week.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Arla Foods has become the next UK dairy processor to reveal it will no longer implement plans to cut milk prices next week.

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Dairy Crest will postpone a cut to the farmgate milk price that was due to come into effect on 1 August.

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Asda, Morrisons and The Co-operative Group will today (25 July) hold talks with the UK government to discuss the future of the country's dairy sectors - as farmers protests over milk prices continue.