Lidl and Aldi have followed recent moves made by rival retailers by increasing the price of four pints of milk from 95p to 99p.
Aldi hiked its price on 2 November in response to a similar move by Asda, while Lidl increased its price today (14 November), a week after a similar move by Iceland.
The price increases by the discounters mean all the UK’s major supermarkets charge at least 99p for the four-pint SKU, compared with prices as low as 89p in many retailers at the height of the supermarket price war last year.
A spokeswoman for Lidl said it had increased its price to reflect similar moves made by the rest of the market.
It comes amid warnings of a heightening supply crisis in the dairy sector, with UK milk deliveries plummeting during the past two months, and warnings from suppliers of impending cheese, butter and Christmas cream shortages.
“We have long warned that unsustainable farmgate prices would lead to reduced production and in turn less choice for consumers of high-quality British dairy products,” said NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes last week.
“The UK dairy sector has been under significant pressure over the past two years due to low prices, which has affected the vast majority of dairy farmers. Farmgate milk prices have recently started to rise but dairy farming is a long-term business and it will take more than a few milk price increases to instil confidence back into the sector.”
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