New scheme offers cost savings to UK dairy firms
efficiency scheme, which could help processors in their battle
against soaring costs.
Milk Link Cheese will be the first dairy processor to use the Dairy PROBE benchmarking system, developed by industry body Dairy UK alongside London Business School and Comparison International.
The move marks the first physical benefit to emerge from £470,000 of government funding given to Dairy UK as part of the Agricultural Development Scheme, run by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
"This manufacturing excellence programme provides an additional business improvement service to help members strive to achieve and maintain world class standards within the UK dairy industry," said Jim Begg, director general of Dairy UK.
The industry body called for more dairy firms to apply to try out its PROBE system, although warned that places were limited.
If successful at Milk Link Cheese, it is hoped PROBE could be used more widely across the dairy industry to help processors cope with rising costs.
One of Britain's biggest dairy processors, Arla Foods UK, recently reported a loss of £0.9m in its recent first half results, after profits of £25m for the same period the year before. Arla's big rival, Dairy Crest, also reported a 41 per cent drop in profits in its recent full year.
