$1 milk no more at Woolworths$1 milk no more at Woolworths

The news that Woolworths has permanently ended the sale of $1 per litre milk has been welcomed by governments and peak farming bodies across the country, with additional money to flow directly back to farmers.

Woolworths today announced the immediate cease of $1 per litre milk sales, with the indefinite extension of the ‘drought levy’. Two and three litre varieties of Woolworths-branded milk will now be sold at $2.20 and $3.30 respectively.

“Today is a huge win for dairy farmers,” said NSW Farmers’ Dairy Committee Chair Erika Chesworth. “We and all dairy farmers have been fighting for this result since $1 a litre milk was introduced in 2011.

“Woolworths have shown real leadership with their decision to end the sale of $1 a litre milk. This is a lesson for every other retailer in the country. It will make a substantial and real difference to dairy farmers who supply Woolworths milk across Australia.”

In announcing the decision today, Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci acknowledged the impact of the drought on farmers and regional communities in eastern Australia and promised that every cent of the increase in price will go back to Australian dairy farmers.

“The Drought Relief Milk payment model has worked on the eastern seaboard and is the most effective way to guarantee price increases end up in the pockets of Australian dairy farmers,” said Banducci. “While we’re realistic this won’t solve broader structural issues, we hope it will help inject much needed confidence into the sector and the regional communities dairy farmers do so much to support."

Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud welcomed the news, calling on other supermarkets to follow suit and urging consumers to play a bigger role in influencing decisions.

“Coles and Aldi continue to sell milk at $1,” said Littleproud. “This drives down prices to farmers. Supermarkets can’t pretend selling milk cheap doesn’t hurt farmers and they’ve got to be called out on this rubbish.

“Consumers have the power here. If everybody who clicks ‘like’ on a Facebook video bought branded milk instead of cheap supermarket brand milk, or punished Coles and Aldi by going elsewhere, big changes would occur overnight.”