Ministers and senior officials meet with all businesses, including supermarkets, from time to time to discuss a range of issues.
Milk pricing is primarily an issue for DEFRA and for OFT. However, the Competition Commission in the course of its investigation into the UK grocery market highlighted in its emerging thinking document published in January
That the number of dairy and pig meat farmers has declined in recent years indicating significant difficulties in those sectors. Average incomes are now rising but supermarkets are retaining an increasing share of the retail price for milk (the situation is less clear for pig meat). We will be looking at this further as well as other primary produce sectors.
The CC has not yet reached any conclusions but hopes to publish its final report in February 2008.