In the wake of heavily criticised milk and butter price cuts, Tesco Ireland has sought to clarify that it “does not purchase directly from Irish dairy farmers”.

Instead, the supermarket reminded consumers and farmers alike that it sources its milk and butter from dairy processors.

“Like all retailers, we agree prices through a tendered process,” a spokesperson said in a note to the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday.

While Tesco’s analogy of its supply chain is correct, the comments are made at a time when the supermarket uses a picture of black and white dairy cow on its own-brand 1l milk cartons.

The same carton notes the line “from farms in the Republic of Ireland” front and centre on the packaging for the consumer to see.

Elsewhere, imagery of dairy farmers, their cattle and their green fields of grass are often used in Tesco in-store promotions for dairy products.

Price cut

Tesco, like Aldi, Lidl and SuperValu, has cut the price of its 2l carton of own-brand milk by 10c and a pound of own-brand butter by 40c.

However, the supermarket says that all of its own-brand butter sold in Ireland is “100% Irish, sourced from Irish farms”.

Tesco Ireland CEO Natasha Adams said: “Following our reduction in retail milk prices in recent days, we are investing in butter retail prices to help customers with their household staple costs.

“With household budgets under increasing pressure, we are absolutely committed to helping our customers, by keeping a laser focus on the cost of the weekly shop. We continue to work to offer customers the best possible value in their shopping trip.”

Competitors

Lidl, Aldi and SuperValu did not choose to provide a comment when asked by the Irish Farmers Journal if they had a response to the concerns of dairy farmers regarding milk and butter price cuts.