Iceland has increased its price of own-label milk to £1 for four pints after a year of selling at 89p - but it has reduced the cost of other milk SKUs by as much as half at the same time.

Iceland said today (19 October) it was moving to a “simpler and clearer pricing structure” for milk, with an increase in its bestselling four-pint variant to £1. Meanwhile, it’s slashing the price of a pint of milk from 50p to 25p, two pints of milk from 75p to 50p, and six pints of milk from £1.85 to £1.50.

A spokesman for Iceland said the new pricing had been introduced following trials in selected Iceland regions and in its Food Warehouse stores “where it has been generally well-received by our customers”.

Iceland was not changing the price it paid its suppliers, he added. “Iceland buys all its milk from British processors, with whom we agree a price inclusive of processing and delivery - we do not buy milk directly from farmers, or play any role in negotiating prices with them.”

Iceland announced it would link the price it paid processors for milk directly to farmgate prices last December, after a series of protests at its depots by Farmers for Action over its cut in the price of four pints to 89p.

It remained “committed to supporting British agriculture and had already taken action this year to increase its purchasing of British cheese and cooked meat, the majority of which now carried the Red Tractor quality assurance logo”, added the spokesman.

Farmers for Action chairman David Handley said the move to £1 for four pints was a positive development, though the prices cut on other milk SKUs were disappointing. “Four pints is their biggest seller, and it may force others to move,” he added.

Iceland has been a key driver of the supermarket milk price war in recent months and years. The retailer claimed to offer “the cheapest milk in the UK” when it cut the price of four pints of full-fat, skimmed and semi-skimmed milk last October. The move sparked protests from farmers’ groups and prompted a further escalation in the supermarket price war on milk - with similar reductions in price by rivals Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl during the following months.

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