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The UK and Irish market, read from the outside in.

Overseas businesses and investors looking at UK and Ireland

Overseas businesses and investors. How the UK and Irish trade moves, what buyers respond to, the partners who get you in, and the forums where you meet the market in one day.

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What matters now

What is changing in the UK and Irish market.

Market

Cheddar rises 9% in a month and still trails the milk price

What changed
Mild Cheddar gained £270 a tonne in September, more than any other product AHDB tracks, and cheese is back above butter and powder at the factory gate.
Why it matters
The October milk price rises were announced weeks before that figure was published, and AHDB says Cheddar prices remain too low to cover them.
What to watch
Whether November milk price announcements move again before the next AHDB wholesale assessment, and whether contract cheese prices follow the spot trades.

Members · Analysis · 29 September 2026

Analysis

Acid whey is not the problem. The business model is.

What changed
The Greek yoghurt and skyr boom created a stubborn acid whey stream. The routes to value exist; a model treating it as a co-product does not.
Why it matters
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.

Analysis · 18 August 2026

Analysis

FETA PDO: provenance the buyer can verify

What changed
Speciality cheese is outpacing cheddar, and FETA PDO's verifiable origin gives buyers a specification rather than a slogan
Why it matters
With speciality cheese outgrowing the category and feta supply tightening, buyers should secure genuine PDO product early rather than treat it as a commodity.

Analysis · 19 June 2026

Intelligence

Trade, markets and market entry.

Independent pieces on trade and export, market prices, ownership and policy. Filter by topic.

Members · Analysis · 10 min read

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

Close-up of a screen showing volatile red and green financial trend lines

Members · Analysis · 4 min read

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

Curds separating from whey around steel cutting blades in a cheesemaking vat

Members · Analysis · 4 min read

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

Chunks of crumbled white feta cheese on a blue-grey plate

Members · Analysis · 3 min read

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

Woman scooping chocolate protein powder from a tub beside a measuring shaker

Members · Analysis · 11 min read

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

Wegovy injectable weight-loss pen lying on a plain white surface

Members · Analysis · 6 min read

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 Forum Ireland: a platform for a new era of Irish dairy

News · 4 min read

Dairy Forum Ireland: a platform for a new era of Irish dairy

Dairy Forum Ireland is positioned to give Irish producers the visibility, buyer access and export readiness needed to compete internationally.

11 February 2026

Protein powder being poured from a scoop into a shaker bottle

Members · Analysis · 5 min read

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

Herd of black and white dairy cows grazing green pasture under stormy skies

Members · Analysis · 5 min read

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 piled on rye crispbread crackers topped with pea shoots on a wooden board

Members · Analysis · 6 min read

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

Four people at a Fonterra exhibition stand holding a glass trophy beside a cheese counter

News · 5 min read

New Zealand's ICDA success strengthens UK export prospects

Independent ICDA recognition gives Fonterra's grass-fed dairy the provenance and quality proof to win premium UK retail and foodservice listings post-FTA.

17 October 2025

World map built from stacked colourful shipping containers on a pale blue background

Members · Analysis · 4 min read

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

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Expertise

Partners for entering the UK and Ireland.

From the Dairy Connect Partner Directory, matched on expertise. Ordered by match, then by profile completeness, then alphabetically. Never by payment.

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Events

Is this worth your time?

Cork · 3 & 4 March 2027

Dairy Forum Ireland

Relevant to

Technical & Processing, Leadership & Strategy, Commercial & Sales, Artisan & SME

Why attend

Twelve speakers follow milk from the farm to the market, each session closing on a chaired industry challenge. Opens with an evening of cheese and whiskey.

View programmeWho’s it for?Get your free ticket

London · October 2027

Dairy Forum London

Relevant to

Leadership & Strategy, Commercial & Sales, Marketing & Brand, Retail & Foodservice

Why attend

One evening, one panel, five questions. The things the industry keeps arguing about, put to the people who decide them.

View programmeWho’s it for?Register interest

GROW by Dairy Connect

When a distributor is interested and you have no UK offer yet.

GROW's export market readiness work tests your offer against what UK and Irish buyers actually respond to, before anyone commits to volume.

GROW

Export market readiness

Prepare the product and business for entry into UK and EU markets, including positioning, documentation, commercial expectations and route-to-market planning.

GROW

Market readiness

Test whether the product, pricing, packaging, capacity and commercial model are ready for the opportunity the business wants to pursue.

GROW

Brand and proposition

Build a clear position around the product's quality, provenance, purpose and value, then turn it into messaging, content and market-facing activity.

How GROW works

Not quite your role?

Nine roles, each with its own route. Or tell us what you are trying to solve and we will point you to the right people.

Explore by roleSpeak to the team