DairyCo

UK Processors Data

Published 10 November 10

Structure of UK Milk Processors

Information on the number and size of enterprises buying ex-farm milk and those producing dairy products in the United Kingdom are given in this section.

Please note: The data is sourced from DEFRA's monthly surveys on utilisation of milk by dairies. Some smaller companies do not participate in these surveys and therefore it must be stressed that these tables give an indication of the size distribution of dairy companies in the UK but they underestimate the number and contribution of smaller manufacturers and therefore do not present a complete picture of the milk processing sector.

UK Distribution of Dairy Companies

Source: DEFRA

Around 67% of milk processed in the UK is processed by 9 companies each processing over 300 million litres per annum. These 9 companies only account for around 1.9% of UK milk processing companies. According to Defra data there are 324 companies processing milk, however it should be noted that these figures are likely to under estimate the number of smaller manufacturers, therefore affecting the total number.

When it comes to the number of large companies supplying liquid milk to the market, around 87% of UK milk output comes from five companies. A similar situation is seen in the cheese market, with around 78% of cheese output in the UK coming from 8 companies. For more information on the structure of UK dairy processors click here

UK Distribution of Dairy Companies 

 Source: DEFRA

Defra data for the UK for 2009 shows that eight companies producing milk powders, three producing condensed milk and 53 producing butter. However, this data does not include all small processors. For more information on this click here