The Kerry Group suppliers who protested the processor’s milk price on two occasions in late June and early July are taking a “wait and see approach” ahead of the price announcement for July milk, according to the organisers of one of the protests.
Pat Enright, who organised the protest at Kerry Group’s offices in Tralee, Co. Kerry in July, said that the protestors are awaiting news of Kerry Group’s milk price offering to suppliers, due to be announced in the coming days, before deciding on any potential further protest action.
These farmers are hoping for an increase on the 37c/L price the business has offered in the last two months for June and May milk.
The protest in Tralee followed on from an earlier one at a Kerry Group processing facility in Charleville, Co. Cork, on June 20.
Speaking to Agriland, Enright said: “We’re waiting for the milk price this month. We’re owed 3.6c/L for the first six months of the year.”
According to Enright, the protestors have been “led to believe” that, outside of the base milk price, an additional payment may be forthcoming.
“It’s a wait and see approach. If there isn’t a payment, it’s a sad reflection of what’s going on. If there isn’t a payment made I presume there is going to be more protesting. That’s where we stand at the moment,” he added.
The organiser of the earlier protest, Gerald Quain, a former chairperson of the Dairy Committee of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), expressed similar views on the current state of play.
He told Agriland: “The thing is on hold at the moment. We’re watching what’s going to happen this month for July milk.”
Quain believes the two protests had an impact on Kerry Group’s decision making.
“We would kind of feel that the protest woke them up a small bit and [stopped] them from pulling the price again last month,” he said.
The protest organiser claimed that there were indications at the time that Kerry Group had intended to reduce its price last month for June supplies.
“That seemed to have been the highest priority in their minds, to pull it [back] again, but I think they held off, because they didn’t want us protesting inside the gate. We don’t want to be there either for that matter. But if it has to be done, it has to be done,” he said.
According to Quain, the protestors were under the impression that the processor was intending to eventually bring its price offering back to 34c/L.
He said: “The word we heard about six to eight weeks ago was that they wanted to pull it back to 34c/L.
“We said ‘to hell with that’. 34c/L is going nowhere, because all the inputs are up. Even though things have come back [in price] they haven’t come back in our line of business.
“Building, machinery, anything you could buy; the only thing that seems to be coming back is milk, and a lot of that isn’t being replicated in the shops either,” he added.