Author
Steve Moncrieff
Managing Director, Dairy Connect
Steve Moncrieff is Managing Director of Dairy Connect, the intelligence, influence and connection platform shaping dairy's future. He leads commercial strategy across the platform's forums, events and The Dairy Mail, working with producers, processors, suppliers and buyers across the UK, Ireland and beyond. He writes The Dairy Mail's analysis and reporting on where value is moving in cheese and dairy.
By this author
48 pieces
Cheddar rises 9% in a month and still trails the milk price
Mild Cheddar rose 9% in September, taking a litre made into Cheddar and whey to 39.08 pence and putting cheese back above butter and powder at the factory gate, but the October milk price rises were announced weeks before that figure was published, and AHDB says Cheddar prices remain too low to cover them.
29 September 2026
The invoice arrives this autumn. Nobody can tell you what it says.
The most expensive packaging decision available to a mid-sized processor this year is not a material decision at all: packaging with missing recyclability data is rated red, so 100 tonnes rated red by default rather than by design costs £13,000 more than the same tonnage rated green — larger than the gap between a realistic pack mix and a perfect one.
22 September 2026
The three numbers in your packaging budget are last year's
Year-two EPR resets the rate and starts charging on recyclability, so the number worth working out this month is not tonnage times rate but the red, amber and green split — and how much of the red is red only because an assessment was never submitted.
21 September 2026
The value test at both ends of the chain
Protein's growth lead over the wider market has more than halved since January while wholesale Cheddar has barely moved as milk gets dearer, so the processor is squeezed from the shelf and the wholesale market at once, and cheese makers meet the margin test first.
15 September 2026
What the week returned
Two of the three routes out of a British dairy can be compared against a declared standard every month while the third has to be argued from first principles each time; whether that changes any capital decision is still unevidenced, and each role in the chain has one thing to do about it on Monday.
11 September 2026
Two routes start with a number. The third starts with an argument.
No published UK or Irish indicator isolates a protein route, so a fractionation proposal has to build its own reference case as well as prove the asset, and the board's job is to test that third route with the same discipline the butter, powder and Cheddar routes already receive.
10 September 2026
What is a litre worth once it leaves the farm, and who decides?
The sector already values processing routes on declared assumptions for two routes and has considered a third product, yet the route retail demand is moving towards has no published comparator, so every fractionation paper reaching a board has been priced by its author.
8 September 2026
The Invisible Factory: the value leaving dairy through its drains
The largest untapped margin on most dairy sites is not a new product but the value already leaving as effluent, heat and yield loss; the first commercial act is to measure it.
20 August 2026
Can a dairy become its own energy company?
Energy from waste is moving from a compliance cost to a resilience asset; the dairies that run digestion as a business line, not a bolt-on, hedge energy price and carbon at the same time.
19 August 2026
Acid whey is not the problem. The business model is.
Acid whey is a business-model failure, not a technical one; the value is real but stranded until processors design for a saleable co-product rather than a disposal problem.
18 August 2026
The Smaller Plate
As UK foodservice reorganises menus around protein rather than volume, dairy's natural, trusted protein story positions it to win the eating-out occasion, not just the supermarket shelf.
15 August 2026
The Protein Pound
The most heavily marketed protein products are typically the most expensive sources of protein on the shelf, while everyday dairy delivers more for far less.
13 August 2026
The Great Protein Race
Consumers are not choosing the highest-protein products but those that combine protein with familiarity, convenience and trust, an advantage dairy already holds.
11 August 2026
The next dairy growth story is cultured
With protein claims now table stakes, fermentation expertise and culture-led texture will decide which dairy businesses keep shoppers.
16 July 2026
The provenance on the rind
Italy's protected DOP cheeses offer UK premium retailers a substitution barrier own-label cannot copy, provided they are ranged with discipline.
25 June 2026
Cream of the crop
Dairy's foodservice growth in 2026 will come from smaller, protein-dense, provenance-led plates rather than simply larger portions.
19 June 2026
FETA PDO: provenance the buyer can verify
With speciality cheese outgrowing the category and feta supply tightening, buyers should secure genuine PDO product early rather than treat it as a commodity.
19 June 2026
The artisan advantage
Farmhouse and artisan cheesemakers punch far above their tonnage, defining reputation and premium value the wider dairy sector should treat as strategic.
19 June 2026
2026 the volatility year
2026 will not be the recovery year the sector expected but the year that resets it, splitting shoppers into clearer tiers and leaving mainstream Cheddar the most exposed.
27 April 2026
Retail intelligence report 2026/27
The UK grocery market is splitting into premium own-brand and hard discount, and a supplier's position on that barbell and inside aligned contracts will decide its 2026/27 fortunes.
24 April 2026
The whey forward 2026/27
UK and Irish producers who commit whey-processing capex before 2028 will capture premium margin for a decade, while those still exporting raw whey watch the value accrue elsewhere.
24 April 2026
The return of fat: how Jersey milk signals a structural shift in dairy demand
The full-fat revival is a structural repositioning of dairy as naturally functional, but capturing lasting value depends on the industry's strategic alignment.
19 March 2026
GLP-1, protein and dairy's opportunity
As GLP-1 users prioritise nutritional density, dairy's high-quality protein becomes a real advantage if the sector repositions its messaging.
13 March 2026
Dairy won in court. But it's still losing the kitchen table
Legal protection of the word milk means little unless dairy harnesses the mainstream protein trend to rebuild everyday consumption habits, especially among under-30s.
12 February 2026
Where pressure is really building in cheese & dairy
The research aims to identify where targeted intervention could unlock disproportionate value for cheese and dairy over the next 12 to 36 months.
3 February 2026
Pizza hasn't peaked. Our interpretation of it has.
Pizza should be treated as a system to be engineered around cheese performance and provenance, not a mature category defended on price.
2 February 2026
Part 3 | from by-product to billion-euro asset
Ireland's whey advantage in functional nutrition rests on value extraction over volume, and sustaining it demands relentless investment in processing, research and talent.
13 January 2026
Milk didn't fail. The industry lost its voice.
UK dairy needs a coordinated, commercially measured campaign to restore milk's cultural relevance, particularly among under-30s, or risk marginalisation by drift.
9 January 2026
Designing dairy's next chapter
Producers who define a clear role in the retail system, invest in data literacy and collaborate will outperform those coasting on heritage and quality alone.
6 January 2026
Part 2 | the sustainability reckoning
Irish dairy's climate reckoning is painful, but verified low-carbon production could turn sustainability into a defensible premium export advantage.
6 January 2026
Cheese & dairy: a year that redefined the curve
In 2025 the dairy businesses that invested in brand storytelling, collaboration and functional innovation captured margin, while those relying on quality alone stalled.
11 December 2025
Part 1 | Irish dairy at a crossroads
Constrained by tightening environmental limits, Irish dairy must build strategy around value, speciality products and verified sustainability rather than more volume.
11 December 2025
Cottage cheese: from trend to transformation
With volume up 29.4% and value up 26.2%, cottage cheese offers UK retailers, foodservice operators and artisan producers a rare simultaneous growth opportunity.
5 November 2025
Whey forward: redefining value across beauty, wellness and performance
Whey's shift from byproduct to high-value bioeconomy ingredient is an open opportunity British dairy can capture through R&D, traceability and scientific validation.
4 November 2025
Quarter 4 cheese report 2025
UK cheese growth to 2033 will reward clear good-better-best positioning, with the independent ICDA increasingly serving as a market signal for buyers and producers.
24 October 2025
Let's start with some cheesy education…
Understanding processed, unprocessed, pasteurised and unpasteurised cheese helps makers, sellers and buyers judge quality with confidence.
28 May 2025
UK & European dairy in flux: understanding market volatility amid global disruption
The volatility across UK and European dairy is structural rather than cyclical, and producers must evolve through it rather than wait it out.
12 May 2025
Flavoured milk in the UK
Flavoured milk's future growth lies in protein, function and premiumisation rather than nostalgia, offering brands a rare second chance.
8 April 2025
The U.S. tariffs: a wake-up call for the UK and European dairy industries
The US tariffs make market diversification, provenance-led premium positioning and coordinated trade lobbying urgent priorities for UK and European dairy producers.
8 April 2025
What the UK retail sector can learn from leading US cheese retailers
UK retailers can unlock cheese-category value by investing in staff expertise, curated ranges, in-store theatre, education and regional provenance.
8 April 2025
Navigating tariff challenges in a shifting global trade landscape
UK dairy can weather a more protectionist world by diversifying markets, leaning on premium provenance and actively shaping trade policy rather than absorbing tariff shocks.
18 March 2025
British territorial cheeses - reimagining tradition for the modern consumer
British territorial cheeses can win younger shoppers by leaning into protein, sustainability, experience and award recognition rather than nostalgia alone.
27 February 2025
Adapting to changing consumer behaviour: opportunities for cheese brands in the UK
Cheese brands can defend share by differentiating on health, provenance and sustainability rather than competing on price alone.
25 February 2025
FETA PDO: bridging Greek heritage and UK cheese trends for strategic growth
FETA PDO's certified origin and traditional method give UK retailers a credible premium story to justify higher price tiers.
25 February 2025
Beyond Cheddar and Brie: say cheese
The UK's cheese opportunity lies not in more products but in coordinated education that inspires shoppers to explore beyond the familiar.
11 February 2025
Driving cheese education in the UK: how supermarkets and social media are fuelling market growth
Retailers that invest in education, in-store tasting and influencer content convert consumer curiosity into repeat premium cheese sales.
29 January 2025
Sustainability: the driving force behind the dairy and cheese industry's transformation in 2025
Producers that embed and clearly communicate sustainable practices will win consumer trust and secure long-term commercial advantage.
29 January 2025
The future of cheese & dairy 2025
UK dairy brands that lead with sustainability, health credentials and provenance, not just price, will stay relevant to conscious consumers.
29 January 2025