Coles is raising the retail price of Coles Brand fresh and UHT white milk products, following recent increases in sourcing, transportation and packaging costs, including a “substantial” rise in farmgate prices paid to dairy farmers.
Prices listed below will be rolled out across Coles supermarkets and online nationally:
- Coles Brand fresh white milk 1lt was $1.35, now $1.60
- Coles Brand fresh white milk 2lt was $2.60, now $3.10
- Coles Brand fresh white milk 3lt was $3.90, now $4.50
- Coles Brand UHT white milk 1lt was $1.35, now $1.60
In June, Coles signed updated contracts with 100 Australian dairy farms to supply milk directly for Coles Brand. In recognition of the higher costs being faced by dairy farmers, this included an increase to the farmgate price paid by Coles this financial year even for farmers with multi-year contracts already in place. Coles has been paying these higher prices since 1 July.
In recent months, Coles has also agreed to “significant” increases to wholesale prices in markets where Coles Brand milk is sourced from processors, as the farmgate price they pay to dairy farmers has also risen “substantially”.
Michael Hampson, CEO of dairy co-operative Norco which supplies Coles Brand milk in northern NSW and southern Queensland, says the increased farmgate price is making a huge difference to dairy farmers.
“Through our long-term partnership with Coles, we have been able to support our 300 farmer members with a record farm gate milk price increase across the total 200 million litres that our members supply to our 100% farmer owned co-operative,” he says.
“This is especially important as farmers face pressures from rising costs of production, with many still recovering from the devastating impacts of recent unprecedented weather events.”
Coles Chief Commercial Officer Leah Weckert acknowledges that customers are facing increased cost of living pressures. She adds that Coles remains committed to continuing to deliver great value to its customers.
“Raising prices is never something we do lightly,” says Ms Weckert, “however, the increased supply chain costs we are seeing, including higher payments to dairy farmers and processors, have necessitated these increases on Coles Brand milk products.
“The feedback we’ve received from farmers and processors following the recent increases in farmgate and wholesale prices has been very positive, and we hope customers will help us continue to support them by purchasing their great quality Australian milk.”