Waitrose slashes price of milk to £1 for four pints

Waitrose has become the latest major retailer to drop its price for four pints of own-label milk to £1.

The price reduction concerns Waitrose’s range of standard full-fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, in addition to its Scottish range of full fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk .

All six products have been reduced from £1.39 to £1 each, with the offer previously only available to myWaitrose loyalty card holders. Waitrose esential butter has also been reduced.

“We are extending the fantastic deal that we initially offered to our myWaitrose customers to everyone who shops at Waitrose,” said a Waitrose spokeswoman. “£1 for essential Waitrose butter (250g) and £1 for four pints of essential Waitrose milk.”

Tesco announced a reduction of its range of own-label skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole milk from £1.39 to £1 each in March, as part of its £200m programme to cut prices on everyday products.

This was followed by a similar reduction by Nisa, The Co-op and Sainsbury’s to £1 for a four-pint bottle. Asda and Aldi also sell milk at this price point, while Lidl sells four pints of own-label milk at 95p.

Morrisons sells 2-litre bottles of its tertiary Meadow Park brand for 84p, which works out at 96p for four pints. It also offers four-pint bottles on a multibuy offer of three four-pint bottles for £3.

”We recognise the incredibly competitive environment that the retailers are operating in, however it is vital that products such as milk are not devalued,” said NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison. 

”Milk is a key part of consumers’ basket and therefore security of supply must be vital for supermarkets; any decision to discount it should be taken from supermarket margins and not forced further down the chain to dairy farmers. We will continue to monitor farmgate prices to ensure this does not undermine them.”