Calls for Coles, Aldi boycott in milk price row

Coles and Aldi have been slammed for retaining their $1-a-litre milk lines despite the move by Woolworths to raise the cost of its store-brand milk in support of dairy farmers.

Coles and Aldi have been slammed for retaining their $1-a-litre milk lines despite the move by Woolworths to raise the cost of its store-brand milk in support of dairy farmers.

Aldi today said low prices were a core promise to its customers and gave no indication its pricing policy would change.

It said it sourced its milk from processors, not farmers, and expected processors to pay primary producers a sustainable price.

The federal agriculture minister savaged Coles and Aldi for retaining their cut-price milk lines and urged customers to boycott them.

Aldi has been criticised for retaining its cut-price milk line.

David Littleproud accused Coles of “pretending” to be a decent corporate citizen and Aldi of “hiding under the stairs” after they failed to follow Woolworths.

“Dairy farmers struggling with drought need an end to Australia’s “$1 milk disaster”, he said, a price war that began eight years ago and has been blamed for sending some farmers to the wall.

Coles last night issued a surprising response to the decision by rival Woolworths to axe its $1-a-litre milk and raise the price of its supermarket-branded milk by 10c per litre.

Woolie said the move would benefit struggling farmers who will receive “every cent” of the price increase.

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Leitchville dairy farmers Bernice and Scott Lumsden with Bernice’s father, John Smith. Picture: Andy Rogers

Coles said it would not rise the price of their house brand milk and was “exploring additional options in relation to how to best support Australia’s hardworking farmers”. The supermarket giant cited cost of living pressures on customers.

Coles said it would look for other ways to help farmers, including collecting customer donations and matching them dollar for dollar from next week. It also pointed out it had committed $16 million over the past six months to support diary farmers, and promised to continue liaising with the industry and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud has urged customers to boycott Aldi.

Mr Littleproud said: “Publicity stunts like (Coles) asking shoppers to donate at the counter to help struggling farmers are just a smokescreen to hide the fact they pay bugger all for milk,” Mr Littleproud said.

“The farmers wouldn’t need donations from the public if Coles and Aldi paid fair prices.”

But the minister said Coles had been saying that since August. “So now it’s time to put up or shut up. Act like a decent corporate citizen instead of just pretending to,” Mr Littleproud said.

Farmgate prices to farmers depend on milk fat and protein content, and agreements with processors that vary from state to state.

Coles says it will not raise the price of its milk, despite the move by Woolworths.

But the average, according to the Dairy Australia website, was about 46 cents per litre at the farm gate in 2017/18.

Mr Littleproud said Australians should send a message with their wallets, and switch their business away from Coles and Aldi.

Dairy farmer Jodie Hay, with her milking cows on her property in Cohuna, Victoria. Picture: David Geraghty/The Australian.

Dairy Connect, an advocacy group for dairy industry players, echoed that call, saying consumers can help force Coles and Aldi to change their ways. “Shareholders ought to be ashamed at the way Coles has conducted itself,” Graham Forbes, a NSW dairy farmer and Dairy Connect farmers’ group president, said.

Woolworths has raised the price of its milk in a move to help farmers.

“And Aldi are very hard-nosed. If they don’t change their mind they’ll be dealing with processors with no milk.” Woolworths stopped selling its home-brand milk at $1 a litre on Tuesday, upping the price by 10 cents with the extra money to go back to farmers.