A family owned dairy company has become the first processor to announce a milk price step-up for the 2020-21 season.
Bulla Dairy Foods announced an increase of $0.10/kg of milk solids on Monday, December 7.
This step-up will see Band 1 suppliers paid $6.80/kg MS, with new pricing paid retrospectively on milk supplied to Bulla from July 1, 2020.
The new milk solid price for Band 2 suppliers is $6.60 and for Band 3 suppliers $6.40.
The increase follows a year of strong growth and expansion for Bulla and comes ahead of what is anticipated to be the company’s biggest Christmas and summer period yet.
This bumper period is caused by the successful launch of the Murray St ice-cream range and loyalty from Australian customers — in particular buying-up Bulla cream as more people turned to home cooking during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Bulla Dairy Foods chief executive Allan Hood said 2020 had been a challenging year for everyone.
“However, we wanted to end it with some positive news for our farmers leading into Christmas,” Mr Hood said.
“We are forecasting our biggest Christmas and summer period ever.
“The increase allows our farmers to securely plan for the next couple of months and it further demonstrates our appreciation for their ongoing supply, support and efforts to consistently deliver high quality milk.”
Bulla has no stop charge, volume charge or collection charge as part of its “simple and transparent pricing approach”.
The company also applies a flat payment model to improve farmer cash flow through the season.