General News
20 August, 2025
Supermarkets up milk prices
THE peak representative body for dairy farmers, Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF), hopes Coles and Woolworths will pass a recent 10 cent per litre increase in the price of home brand milk on to dairy farmers.
The increase comes as dairy farmers battle high input costs, drought and flood clean-up, threatening to send some broke.
ADF notes after the quiet lift in prices, two litres of milk at either supermarket is now priced at $3.20, up from $3 less than a fortnight ago.
“With almost half of Australia’s dairy farmers either battling drought or recovering from floods, this is a timely increase, and we hope it’ll flow back to the farmgate,” ADF president Ben Bennett said.
“The fact is, when people buy milk, the supermarkets, processors and everyone in between take a cut – leaving dairy farmers as price takers in the supply chain.
“This season is extra tough as dairy farmers are facing skyrocketing feed and input costs.
“Many are losing money because it costs more to produce the milk than what they’re paid for it.
“So, while the supermarket price increase is modest, that 10 cents per litre would be welcomed by farmers.
“We hope supermarkets and processors will pass it on to help keep our fragile industry afloat and dairy on the table of every Australian family.”
In response to questions from Western District Newspapers, a Woolworths spokesperson said the company raised its home-brand milk prices due to an increase in prices by processors.
“We’re committed to providing our customers with top quality fresh food at competitive prices,” the spokesperson said.
“We also understand that affordable fresh milk is important to Australian families so we’ve been maintaining low fresh milk prices for some time now.
“We source our own brand milk from processors, who have increased the prices for the products we source from them this year.
“As we’re paying our processors more, we’ve adjusted the prices of our Woolworths brand milk to reflect these increased costs.
“We remain focused on delivering value for customers across their shop and have reduced the price of hundreds of products under our lower shelf price campaign since May, in addition to our regular weekly specials and promotions.”
Similarly, a Coles spokesperson said the price of their home brand milk increased due to supply chain and operational costs.
“We strive to maintain competitive pricing on essential products and deliver value for our customers,” the spokesperson said.
“However, due to ongoing increases in our supply chain and operational costs, which Coles has been absorbing for a sustained period, we have increased the retail price of Coles own brand white milk by 10 cents a litre.”
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