Consumers will be forced to pay more for a pint of milk after Robert Wiseman Dairies looks to increase its prices to supermarkets to offset a rise in costs.

The dairy group said that it was negotiating with supermarkets to increase the price of all of its milk products from this month, after appeals from farmers, who face rising costs, as well as “inflationary” increases in its labour costs.

Robert Wiseman, which has 25 per cent of the market behind Dairy Crest and Arla, said that it would pass the majority of the price increase, which it has been implementing this month, back to its milk suppliers.

"The supermarkets have been very helpful", said a spokesman. "We will know what the level of price increases are in a couple of weeks time."

It came as the milk producer and distributor said that its sales volumes and turnover for the year to end-March were in line with forecasts, and two contract wins meant that it had secured orders for new milk volumes worth an additional 40 million litres a year.

Robert Wiseman added that despite “intense” competition, its profit margins had maintained the recovery experienced in the first half.

“The company is confident it will deliver results that are in line with market expectations.”

The group added that it had continued to see strong like-for-like growth from its big customers — the supermarkets — and that demand for liquid milk had been stimulated though new product launches, such as flavoured organic milk.

The shares inched down 1.4 per cent to 493p in morning trading.

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