How is dairy (still) meeting the sustainability challenge?

Sustainability has understandably taken something of a back seat this year, amid the soaring inflation seen across the dairy category.

But despite these financial challenges, Dairy UK CEO Judith Bryans this summer insisted the sector had still been “working hard” towards sustainability goals that were renewed last November via the industry-wide UK Dairy Roadmap.

To that end, Dairy UK launched a consumer-facing ad campaign to showcase the dairy sector’s sustainability credentials in June, titled ‘It’s What We’re Made Of’, which demonstrated how farmers and processors were “continuing to innovate and improve practices as we strive to meet our industry goal to net zero”, Bryans added.

Here are some standout examples of industry sustainability initiatives achieved despite the inflationary challenges faced by the sector…

Yeo Valley Organic

Amid the current inflationary headwinds, organic brand Yeo Valley is banging the drum for regenerative agriculture, having invested £2m on field trials to measure soil carbon stocks at its farms.

It intends to use the data to drive a series of projects, from biodiverse planting to creating 600 acres of “agroforestry” – integrating trees, forage and grazing animals. Its new one-litre milk packaging also cuts plastic use by 70% and CO2 by 60%.

Müller UK & Ireland

Müller has been focusing on packaging and on-farm emissions targets in a bid to keep up momentum on its sustainability goals.

It announced a 30% emission reduction plan by 2030 last December, driven by a 1ppl premium for farmers.

The processor has also cut virgin plastic from a raft of products by including more recycled material – and it has introduced clear, more easily recyclable bottle caps for retail partners Aldi and Waitrose.

Arla Foods UK

Arla doubled down on its sustainability ambitions in August by outlining what it describes as market-leading carbon reduction targets to be hit by 2030.

The dairy co-op is aiming to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 63% by 2030, and will reduce Scope 3 emissions by 30%. It will meet these ambitions through a combination of accelerating moves to renewable energy, plastic reduction and a series of on-farm projects, it says.

The Co-op

Wrap research suggests around 85 million pints of milk waste may be as a result of shoppers sticking to use-by dates.

So, the Co-op launched updated milk packaging in September. It carries the message, “Don’t waste me, freeze me, in a suitable, clean container, then defrost in the fridge, use within 24 hours.”

The move follows a scrapping of use-by dates on Morrisons milk earlier this year, with the retailer now encouraging use of the ‘sniff test’.