An exciting future for the UK dairy industry was unveiled in Westminster on Monday June 30. Dairy industry leaders and politicians gathered to launch ‘Leading the Way’, the UK dairy industry’s sustainable growth plan, at an event hosted by Devon MP and farming champion Neil Parish.
The ‘Leading the Way’ plan states that an estimated 2.5 per cent annual growth in global demand for dairy products over the next ten years will boost UK dairy production through increased exports and imports substitution. The plan sets out a vision for profitable growth of the UK dairy industry based on economic, social and environmental sustainability and focusses on the capacity of and need for, the UK dairy sector to be competitive in a global context, through scale, innovation and efficiency.
Farming minister, George Eustice MP, said: “I congratulate the dairy industry for putting together this strategy which will make an important contribution to the development of a long term plan for the sector.
“There is huge potential for our dairy producers with growing international demand and a global reputation that is second to none. The government wants to support growth in the industry and ensure that we can both displace more imports and expand our exports.”
Billy Keane, Chairman of Dairy UK said: “The industry growth plan is founded on economic, social and environmental sustainability. By uniting together around these sound principles, the whole dairy supply chain can have the confidence to invest in the future. The list of 43 organisations and companies who have endorsed this plan and share this common vision and sense of purpose, sends a powerful message about the UK dairy industry’s ambitions for sustainable growth.”
Rob Harrison, Gloucestershire dairy farmer and NFU dairy board chairman, said: “By pulling together the NFU’s vision Compete to Grow, the Dairy UK White Paper and the Dairy 2020 sustainability initiative, this project unites and consolidates the efforts of an industry that clearly has its eye’s collectively on the prize – to grow our output and be the best dairy industry in the world."
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