Dairy industry planning campaign in response to attacks from vegans

Britain’s dairy industry is planning to splash out on a £1.2 million marketing campaign as it struggles to counter attacks from increasingly vocal vegan activists.

News of the campaign comes after anti-dairy groups marked the first World Plant Milk Day on August 22, while thousands of protesters marched in London last week as part of a global effort to “fight animal oppression”.

The marketing campaign will be led by Dairy UK and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, according to trade magazine The Grocer.

Judith Bryans, chief executive of Dairy UK, told the magazine: “This gives us a great opportunity to re-establish our credentials and celebrate dairy”.

Sales of cow’s milk have been declining in the UK as consumers switch to non-animal alternatives such as almond and soya. Milk has also suffered from the fact that more people are diagnosing themselves as lactose intolerant.

Last month a vegan group won the right to state that the milk sitting on millions of breakfast tables is not produced humanely.

The advert drew complaints from the dairy industry, which claimed it painted a misleading and inaccurate picture, but the Advertising Standards Authority backed the accuracy of the vegan message.

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Vegan groups may have another prominent backer, too.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, already a committed vegetarian, said on Tuesday that he plans to eat more vegan food. Asked if he plans to convert fully, he claimed to be “going through the process”.

A party spokesperson later clarified Corbyn has no plans to give up eating dairy entirely, but simply intends to eat more vegan food.