Bulla Dairy Foods steps up: Milk processors battle for supply

See the full table to find out how Bulla’s reaction to rising global prices compares to its competitors.

Bulla Dairy Foods has pushed up its farmgate price as global prices surge.

Bulla Dairy Foods has quickly stepped up its milk price by 10 cents a kilogram to keep its farmers on board, following Kiwi giant Fonterra’s step up yesterday.

The majority of Bulla suppliers will see their farmgate price lift to $7.45 a kilogram milk solids for those on band zero, while those on band one jump to $7.35/kgMS, backdated to July 1.

Bulla Dairy Foods pricing table as of February 18, 2022.

“Following strong cream and ice-cream production and sales during Bulla Dairy Foods’ peak Christmas period, we’re pleased to announce a milk price step up of $0.10/kg MS, which will be paid retrospectively to our valued suppliers from July 1, 2021 until the end of this current season,” Bulla procurement manager Rohan Davies said.

“Despite significant disruptions to our supply chain in January due to Covid related issues Bulla was able to deliver its biggest cream production period ever over Christmas, and we thank all of our suppliers for their continuous support.

“With the exception of the onset of Covid, Bulla has continued to increase its milk prices for the past five years, and our prices remain strong in the marketplace.”

Milk2Market exchange general manager Richard Lange said Bulla traditionally has been proactive in trying to lead on pricing.

He said the Colac-based firm paid a flat price, which meant it came under pressure from Bega, Saputo and Fonterra, who paid more in the back half of the 2021-22 season.

“Bulla has two peaks in its sales – at Christmas and Easter,” Mr Lange said.

“If they’ve had a good Christmas, they will pass that onto farmers.”

This milk price comparison was prepared by Milk2Market whose calculator can be used by farmers to analyse their individual production profile against current pricing.

NOTE: This comparison is based on what farmers receive once DA levies and other charges have been taken out of their milk cheques.

In addition, the flat farmer in this comparison has slightly more components – 4.1 per cent fat 3.3 per cent protein – than Bulla’s standard litre, which means they get a higher price than Bulla’s band one $7.35 gross price, $7.30 net of DA levies and other charges.