Delamere Dairy has reduced the size of its UHT goats milk ­carton following a rise in the price of the product abroad.

Rolling out in the new year, the 500ml packs (rsp: £1.25) will cost almost the same as the one-litre UHT packs (rsp: £1.49) they will be replacing.

The Cheshire-based business, which buys its UHT goats milk from the Continent, said global demand had pushed up prices across Europe.

“This has been the case for the past 12 months, driven in part by the demand for infant formula in the Far East,” said Delamere Dairy MD Ed Salt, adding customers had requested a smaller, more ­­”user-friendly” carton in order to reduce wastage.

Delamere Dairy will sell whole and semi-skimmed UHT milk in the 500ml format, while its fresh goats milk - which is supplied by UK farms - will continue to be sold in a one-litre carton.

Paddy O’Keefe, MD of goats milk specialist St Helen’s Farm - which sources most of its milk in the UK - described the market as “always tight” because of its small size, adding the past 18 months had been “strong and quite restricted.”