Asda has increased the amount it pays First Milk for cheese by £300 per tonne.

The supermarket said the 3ppl increase reflected farmers’ increased costs and would help ensure producers continued to make cheese. “In the current market, it is important that milk continues to go into making cheese – helping to keep rural economies going,” said Asda general manager for dairy, Jonathan Betts.

Asda had insisted that the price increase was passed directly to dairy farmers, added First Milk Cheese Company MD Jeff Halliwell. 

About 15%, or 1.8 billion litres, of First Milk’s total milk supply is used to make cheese for Asda.