The UK is facing the prospect of a shortage of dairy products as a lack of workers has forced farmers to slash production, the country’s biggest milk and butter producer has warned.
Arla Foods, the company which produces Lurpak butter and Cravendale milk, has also predicted that prices on its products will surge even higher as the year continues, despite grocery bills hitting 13-year highs.
The producer’s UK managing director Ash Amirahmadi told The Telegraph Britain’s milk production was already down 3% in 2022.
“If 3% gets to 5%, we know that will lead to shortages, in terms of [meaning] we can’t meet the demand that’s there”.
He also said that soaring costs such as fuel, animal feed and fertiliser costs were also squeezing farmers at a time when worker shortages were also damaging the industry.
Amirahmadi said “we’re on the edge” of dairy shortages and warned that there is “more inflation to come”.
Arla, which is a co-operative owned by 12,000 farmers, around 2,500 in the UK, is in talks with the government to obtain feed, fertiliser and fuel.
“The work with the government is less about inflation, but it’s more about making sure that the product keeps flowing,” said Arla’s Amirahmadi.
To address the shortage of workers, Arla has called on the government to create a cross-departmental strategy to boost the supply of young workers and relax some immigration rules for some roles.
A government spokesman said: “Labour shortages are affecting countries around the world.
“As announced in the Government Food Strategy, we plan to commission an independent review into labour shortages in the coming weeks.”
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