Freshways negative press continues and has registered with customers

During the past three weeks, the Daily Mail has run three stories involving Freshways.

9th April highlighted the on-farm dumping of milk.

16th April headline was “As his firm (Freshways) forces family farms to pour milk down the drain meet fat cat who creamed of a fortune from our farmers.” (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8223557/Balvinder-Nijjars-milk-firm-Freshways-cut-rates-40-cent-dairy-farmers-produce.html)

22nd April headline was “Fat cat who is milking our care homes during COVID-19 outbreak: First Balvinder Nijjar slashed the rates he pays dairy farmers, forcing them to pour their milk down the drain - now he's hiked charges for supplying food to nursing homes”  (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8242685/The-fatcat-milking-care-homes.html)

The 22nd April article has brought tears to the eyes of some and had the blood boiling of others to learn that the company cut farmgate milk prices, extended payment terms of farmers, told them to dump milk and increased the price of milk to care homes during Covid19.

The adverse press publicity has not gone unnoticed with several Freshways customers in food service, allegedly exploring how they can distance themselves from the processor’s constant negative press coverage. For sure, most retailers, food service and others are keen that throughout the Covid 19 period, processors treat all their loyal supplying farmers fairly and responsibly. 

With many supplying farmers extremely unhappy with Freshways attitude and some of its customers looking towards pastures new it’s all suddenly going down hill at speed.

On top of this in a grocer magazine article, Bali Nijjar has confirmed Freshways are in full merger negotiations with Medina   and is quoted as saying “with everything that has happened recently, the speed of that merger process (with Medina) will only increase”.

Well the Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) will have the final say on that because its certainly on their radar and no doubt on the radar of The Daily Mail

As several concerned processors have indicated to Ian, Freshways have some excellent farmers who don’t know what to do and cant find an alternative home for their milk if they want to.