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Who is OMSCo?

OMSCo - the Organic Milk Cooperative - is a company run by farmers for farmers. Formed in 1994 by a group of five like-minded dairy farmers, OMSCo is the UK’s leading and longest established organic dairy cooperative uniquely focused on the production and supply of organic milk. With nationwide membership, OMSCo now supplies the majority of organic milk produced in this country from milk fields offering the most cost effective collection. The result is the best blend of stability and fair prices for farmers. Balancing supply with demand is critical to the long term future of the organic milk market. At OMSCo we work hard to ensure that the market is open and transparent, working closely with processors and retailers.

OMSCo is dedicated to building a sustainable long term organic milk market in the UK - to the benefit of farmers, processors and consumers

The Benefits of OMSCo

• We are the largest and longest established organic cooperative
• We are the only organisation that markets only organic milk
• We represents around 300 of the UK's organic dairy farmers
• We are the only national player, with farms from Cornwall to Aberdeenshire
• We actively market organic milk through our award-winning PR campaign in order to drive demand
• We can provide cost benefits from economies of scale
• We do not charge a capital levy - 100% of returns go back to members
• We have an enviable list of market leading organic customers
• Our broad customer base covers all markets
• Our long term customer agreements create stability
• We provide specialist organic advice and additional technical support to our members
• We offer local level operation through regional member groups
• We operate simple transparent pricing without constituent penalties and bonuses
• We are a lean organisation with only ten staff on the payroll

The Market for Organic Milk:

• The market for raw organic milk grew by 45% in 2005/06.
• Demand for raw organic milk for use in liquid milk, yogurt and cheese products has increased steadily by around 25% per year. UK production has increased from seven million litres in 1995/96 to around 375million litres in 2006/07
• Sales of organic liquid milk for the year 2006/07 are predicted to be 247m litres and over £100m per year
• Organic milk now accounts for 6% of total liquid milk sales at the major supermarkets but there is huge long term potential for sales in foodservice and public sector
• Liquid milk is the largest and fastest growing sector of the organic dairy market, using around two thirds of all organic milk production
• Organic milk grew by 32.3% in terms of value in the 52 weeks ending 31 December 06 and, over the same period, volume growth has settled back to 19.2 % and is on track to achieve the 20% growth forecast by OMSCo for 2006/07
• Supermarkets generate almost 95% of organic milk sales, compared with 75% of non-organic milk sales
• During 2006, 85 million litres has entered conversion

The Organic Consumer

Over the past five years, the organic consumer profile has seen a significant change with a definite shift towards the mainstream. Evolving from a small group of highly committed individuals buying specialist produce, a wide cross section of society is now buying an array of organic products in a host of different ways, from box schemes to high street retailers.

Although the organic liquid milk market is still in its infancy, with 18% household penetration, it is in the enviable and unusual position of already being considered mainstream. There is a potentially massive opportunity for retailers and the organic liquid milk market to increase that penetration. In an increasingly suspicion-prone market, organic appears to have a head start in consumer perceptions and parents with babies and young children are increasingly opting for organic. By raising awareness of the health benefits of drinking organic milk through the media, OMSCo has sufficiently differentiated liquid organic milk from the non-organic market and in doing so has added value to what has traditionally been a commodity market only competing on price.

The Big Health Issue

Organic milk now has a strong story to tell on the health front, backed by a growing body of independent research. The most recent piece of peer reviewed research, carried out at the Universities of Liverpool and Glasgow, compared organically and non-organically produced milk as part of a large scale field study carried out over three years on commercial farms. Unlike previous studies, this study also measured seasonal variation and management practices. Samples were collected monthly and analysed for fatty acid (FA) content, vitamin A and E and beta-carotene. Farm and management factors were also recorded to identify practices that may be associated with differences in specific compounds in the milk. The study found that, despite key seasonal farm management and cow nutrition factors that affect fatty acid content, organic milk was higher in poly-unsaturated FA, particularly Omega 3 FA, than non-organic milk throughout the production year.

Over the past four years, OMSCo has invested heavily in raising awareness and educating consumers regarding the health benefits of organic milk; an investment which has paid off in terms of a direct and substantial increase in sales for the entire organic liquid milk market.

1. 2003, June - GM Debate - With the nationwide debate on GM food, organic dairy farmers alert the general public to the fact that GM is already widely used in non-organic cattle feed throughout the country.
2. 2004, February - New Research Shows Organic Milk is Best - Publicity by OMSCo for the first research showing that organic milk has higher levels of Omega 3 essential nutrients than non-organic milk, published by the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER).
3. 2004, December - New Research Proves Organic Milk has More Omega 3 - Publicity for research from Aberdeen University, confirming the IGER findings: considerable media interest.
4. 2005, January - New Research Proves Organic Milk is Higher in Vitamins and Antioxidants than Non-organic Milk - Publicity from OMSCo highlighting that organic milk has higher levels of Vitamin E, antioxidants and Omega 3 essential fatty acids according to research released at the Soil Association’s annual conference, which was held in conjunction with the University of Newcastle’s Quality Low Impact Food (QLIF) Congress in Newcastle.
5. 2005, August - Dispatches: Supermarket Secrets - Channel 4 programme exposing intensive dairy farming practices in the UK and highlighting health claims on organic milk.
6. 2006, August University of Liverpool Research Results – Publicity surrounding research results showing that organic milk contains on average 68% more total Omega 3 fatty acids than non-organic milk.

Climate Change

Global warming and carbon emissions are now big news and OMSCo is looking at the research that has been conducted so far regarding the carbon footprint of organic farming. The Soil Association has recently compiled evidence to show that organic milk production is a low user of energy compared to other livestock products and that it is 38% more energy efficient per t than non-organic milk.

For more information on converting to organic production , you can download our PDF Download Farmer Recruitment Pack