23 April 2012 --- Senior leaders in the dairy industry gathered on 16 April 2012 and joined Rt Hon Jim Paice MP at the House of Commons to launch the work of the Dairy 2020 initiative. The initiative has drawn on expertise from right across the supply chain to define a strategy for the future success of the British dairy industry.

The initiative has been 18 months in the making and has been created by stakeholders from across the supply chain including farmers, retailers, banks, processors, policy makers, NGOs, government and trade bodies. The project has been managed and facilitated by Forum for the Future, the leading global sustainable development non-profit organisation.

The published outputs of Dairy 2020 include:

•        A vision statement that sets out a clear ambition for the industry

•        A framework of guiding principles that assists the industry in delivering an integrated approach to sustainability

•        A list of areas where focus is needed to enable a sustainable dairy industry to thrive in 2020

•        A set of scenarios describing possible futures for the industry in 2020, and key risks and opportunities that the industry may have to operate within in 2020

•        A toolkit that helps organisations in the industry to bring the project outputs to life through their individual company strategies and actions.

James Neville, chair of Dairy 2020 said, “Through this initiative we pulled together a credible coalition that represents both the dairy supply chain including farmers, processors, retailers and suppliers, and stakeholders including banks, NGOs and advisors. Each of us has a common belief in the potential of the UK dairy industry and for it’s importance in the world. We have worked together to define what a sustainable dairy industry will look like and what role it has in a future world. We believe a sustainable dairy industry is one which is vibrant and which enables people, environment and business to thrive”.

“Prior to Dairy 2020, there was a lack of integrated strategy in place in the UK dairy industry. This gave us the confidence to start work on improving the overall sustainability of our industry: to produce more for less; to grow exports; or increase our competitiveness in our own domestic market to gain share. The biggest symptom of this is our annual dairy trade deficit of £1.2bn.

“Through Dairy 2020 and the world-leading Dairy Roadmap, we now have the platform to deliver a sustainable future for the British dairy industry in all respects: environmental, social and economic.

“Going forwards we now want to engage with the rest of the supply chain to build commitment with leaders in all commercial operations, associations, representative bodies and NGOs.”

Jim Paice MP, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, added, “I firmly believe that the British Dairy Industry can be amongst the best in the world: the most competitive; the most productive and the most sustainable and Dairy 2020 can help achieve this.

“This strategy sets out a clear vision and ambition for the future of the industry, and is a brilliant example of what can be done when an industry works together in a collaborative and positive way.”