3 key issues impacting Britain’s dairy industry

There’s plenty to appreciate and celebrate across the cheese market in 2025, as a number of new makers and new products enter the scene.

But, as anyone working within the industry will tell you, these highlights have been muddied by what’s been a tricky (and some say unbearable) few months, in which both farming and retail have been rattled by new Government legislation, and pricing and supply issues.

Farmers continue to fight IHT ruling

When new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out her stall last Autumn, it caused outrage within the farming community. Reforms on Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) from Inheritance Tax are due to be sanctioned from next April. This means tax relief will be capped at £1 million (£3 million in some cases) and any amount above the threshold will be subject to 20%, rather than 40% tax, payable in interest-free instalments over a decade.

Farming organisations, such as the NFU, have repeatedly sought out a better, fairer solution, but have been met negatively at every turn, with several farmers saying they plan to continue protesting until their concerns are heard.

“You get the feeling the Government actually hates farmers,” said Ro Collingborn of Brinkworth Dairy in Wiltshire, who added the proposals are like having the rug kicked out from under you. “Every new policy feels like another kick!”

Ro can trace the family’s farming roots back to 1485, though the dairy was founded in 1910, today run by her daughter, Ceri Cryer – a fifth-generation cheesemaker.

Brinkworth Dairy was one of the first farms to adopt Friesian herds, operating across 180 acres in the Dauntsey Vale. The business, and others like it, has not been considered properly by Government, Ro explained, adding that Labour has “totally reneged” on its promise to support farming, and “all without proper consultation”.

She feels the new rules won’t impact investors (the very people the regulations sought to deter), as the IHT rates, “are still good for businesses at the moment. Some will think farmland is still a better investment than a pension”.

“Whereas for family farmers it’s their living. You farm for your lifetime and pass the farm to your children, without making any money. We do this for the love of the land and animals and our children.”

Ro thinks the threshold should be raised to between £5 million and £10 million, and that farmers aged 75 or over, who don’t know if they will die within seven years, should be exempt. 

“The advice was ‘don’t plan to hand on to your children yet’ because there was a nil rate. That’s what farmers were told, and they had no reason to think that would change under Labour because Sir Kier Starmer said it wouldn’t!”

Like many others in her position, Ro said she’s angry, despairing and disillusioned, having already heard stories of farmers taking their own lives due to the Government’s decision.

“The people producing food here are being penalised for doing so. How is that helping the country?” she added. “It’s a very long-term tax, and a cruel tax.”

Speaking earlier this year National Farmers’ Union President, Tom Bradshaw, said there is still time for the Treasury to review its position, adding that the NFU, alongside other organisations, has put forward a proposal that will raise the money needed in a way that removes risk to British agriculture and food security. All eyes will now be on 2025’s Autumn Budget.

Cheesemakers report shortage of organic milk

Stocks of organic milk are running low across Britain, say makers. Which is devastating at a time when interest in organic food has peaked, with 2024 sales of organic producing reaching an all-time high of £3.7 billion according to Statista.

Penny Nagle, founder of the Organic Cheesemakers’ Network, said, “We know other organic cheesemakers in more remote parts of the UK are struggling to find enough organic milk, so diversifying into non-organic cheese production.”

She continued, “This compromises the values that organic milk brings in terms of biodiversity, sustainability, nutritional value and animal welfare. Organic certification is the only guaranteed assurance we have of all of these factors being in place on any farm.”

Penny added that she is noticing growing demand for organic cheese. “Customers really appreciate the assurance of origin, and that the milk has been produced to the highest possible standards.”

Although they’ve been conscious of it in the past, the team at Godminster say the current shortage of organic milk is particularly heightened.

“About three or four years ago the differential on milk price (after Covid) between conventional and organic was nothing really. There was no difference between price points,” said commercial and operations director, Jessica Kimber-Holloway. “And that is challenging for the organic producer, because it is more expensive to run an organic herd. When the milk price was no longer delivering that added value, a number of farmers said ‘why are we doing this? It costs us 20% more, and we’re not getting 20% more for our milk’.”

The added cost of certification is leading some to opt out of organic, while some aren’t considering going organic at all, Jessica said, instead picking up on the interest in regenerative agriculture and choosing that as their core value.

Adding fuel to the fire is the Government’s recent IHT legislation, and the fact that many organic farmers can’t afford to invest in their businesses due to high input costs and ever smaller financial returns. “That means they might not be as efficient at producing as much milk as we would perhaps like,” said Jessica, who added that the weather and its impact on yield has a part to play in the current issue too. “Our system has not caught up with the changes in our environment. We had hot weather this time last year, then it rained and rained and rained, so milk yields were down. Farmers need to think about altering their systems to produce milk at different times of the year.”

What could be done to encourage farmers to put more stock in organic?

For starter’s Jessica believes there’s a lack of marketing around the benefits of organic produce, which she thinks should go beyond initiatives such as Organic Fortnight. “Organic is currently up against a “framework of regenerative messaging”. “The public think they are doing the right thing buying regenerative, and they probably are, it is a step in the right direction. But the organic guys haven’t said ‘what about us?’.”

Jessica said she believes the organic movement has lost its identity and is being seen as “slightly old fashioned”. “The public perception of organic has been lost.”

When you’ve got big players talking about coming out of organic production, “that’s massive”.

“We need some big guys to champion it and push it forward. But it all ultimately comes down to money. We’ve all got to survive and make a living.”

Jessica also said we need to pay more for organic milk and cheese, and place greater value on these products if we want to see real change, especially in the dairy industry.

“I think there is a big lack of understanding within the general public that milk should be cheap. When you can walk into a motorway services and pay more for water than a pint of milk, there is something essentially wrong with that, and there’s a tendency for milk to be used as a loss leader within retailers.”

Consumers need to be better educated on where food comes from, and why it is worth spending their hard-earned cash on it. “We need to be proud of what we produce in this country, including organic. People around the world appreciate it, but that’s not necessarily the case in the UK. It’s all become about price and is very very price competitive. For businesses like us to be sustainable, we’re now having to look across the borders.”

Cheese price hikes hit retailers

Delis, farm shops, food halls and cheesemongers are having to rethink their counter stock because of rising cheese costs – notably on products from Europe due to post-Brexit export charges.

“British cheese has gone up a little,” said Jessica Summer, founder of Mouse & Grape, “but it’s mostly European cheese that’s been impacted. Things like French goats’ cheese are so much more expensive than they were a few years ago.” Which could be a boon for British producers, whose homegrown alternatives are proving more attractive pricewise to UK speciality retailers.

“It’s starting to become much better value to buy British cheeses made in a similar style,” Jessica confirmed.

This is especially true as larger retailers, such as M&S and Waitrose use their bargaining and buying power to drive down the cost of European cheeses in store – something small independents can’t do.

“We’ve got a Marks and Spencer here in Pinner which has a good cheese selection,” explained Jessica. “They sell Epoisses for about £8. I was getting it in for £10, so I’d have to sell it for £20, and no one is going to buy Epoisses for £20. I think it’s so tricky when you can see similar cheeses in the supermarket. Fair enough, you expect to see a Brie, but a £2 Brie that looks plasticky is very different to what an artisan cheesemonger can offer. Also, supermarkets can offer discounts on food as loss leaders, whereas indies don’t have that luxury. The bigger stores have more to play with essentially, while we’re relying on our brand and customer loyalty.”

Jessica says specialist cheese retailers will never be able to compete with the multiples on price, so they have to be “more creative”. And this means seeking out products that are different to supermarkets, building customer trust to encourage return visits, and developing relationships directly with cheesemakers and wholesalers to ensure you’re always ahead of the curve when it comes to trends and new products.

An ode to next-gen cheesemakers

Sam Brice, co-founder of The Real Cheese Project says, the way the British cheese industry has evolved is something to be celebrated

While perusing the finalists in the Best New Cheese category at the British & Irish Cheese Awards this year, it was impossible not to be struck by the quality and diversity of the entries on offer. Innovation is booming within our artisan cheese scene, and this presents a great storytelling opportunity for retailers, as cheese shoppers approach the counter.

The pace of innovation has increased in recent years, and having taken artisan cheese from the very brink in the post-war era, to become one of the world’s leading cheesemaking nations, our cheesemakers are now more confident and creative than ever before.

During lockdown, while working on the British Cheese Weekender, one of the most exciting messages was just how many new cheeses had been born out of necessity – whether to avoid milk going to waste, or to provide a more rounded offering for the sudden spike in demand online.

But momentum has only increased since – and Affineur of the Year has played a big role here. As the competition prepares for only its next instalment it has already amassed an impressive legacy of new cheeses brought to market following successful showings at the event, and has achieved an unimaginably big impact on the mindsets of both makers and mongers when it comes to aging their cheese.

Better still, this flurry of new releases has gone hand-in-hand with a huge drive in sustainable innovations across farming and production. Many of the nation’s newest cheesemakers, like Slow Grown Farm in West Sussex and Lowfields Farm Dairy in Yorkshire, have been founded with considerations around soil health, biodiversity and animal welfare at their heart, and every established farmhouse cheesemaker we speak to is continually striving to reduce energy use, and restore the health of their land.

Great food tastes even better with a story, and this new wave in British cheese has plenty to say for itself – so I’d always encourage cheese shops to save room for a few new releases on their counters. If you’d like some inspiration, look out for our People’s Cheese line-up in a few weeks!