To think that the price of Milk is just too cheap

[RudeBarbandCustard]

I'm shocked at how cheap milk has become, and I think it's really worrying that a pint of milk is now cheaper than bottled water.

I usually buy my milk with my supermarket shop, so I have to confess I've never taken any notice of the actual price until now.

The other day, I bought 2 x 4 Pint bottles of milk from the corner shop. I expected it to cost around £4... so I was stunned when I realized they were just £1 each. What's more, in our local Asda a 4 pint bottle is 89p!

Considering people happily pay £2 or more for a bottle of water these days, I think it's disgusting that the supermarket price wars have driven the price of milk down like this.

I don't know much about this issue, so I'm prepared to be educated, but personally I think it's appalling. Do any of the supermarkets pay a fair price for their milk??

Yes the supermarkets use milk as a loss leader to draw in custom but they also pay a disgustingly low price to the farmers. Diary farming unless heavily intensified (not good for the animals and much too expensive for most farmers) is completely unprofitable these days. Problem is for smaller farming families they are in too deep, it's all they have ever done, so they sink into poverty and keep farming.

Ooh I'm excited about having a milk delivery now! They even have the option of glass bottles

Need to do a bit of googling to find out if this dairy does indeed pay a fair price, but I do like the idea of supporting local business and taking some of my business away from Tescos.

Oh yes I forgot about the horrid plastic bottles too! Some people are genuinely amazed when they see my glass bottles in the fridge.

Can't freeze the milk either which apparently puts some folk off

YANBU. Standard milk costs no more than it did 20 years ago. The supermarkets aren't the ones suffering for this.

Whereabouts in the UK are you OP?

Ipanema what a great service and product!

Rude, I always found it really handy when the kids were little.

If I ran out of bread/eggs/juice/squash, I just stuck a note out for the milkman and there it was the next morning

We don't have a suitable local milkman but I'd happily pay more for milk than I'm currently doing even though I usually buy organic in the hope that the animals are better treated and that more money goes to the dairy farmers to help out with their higher costs. (This may be a vain hope, I don't know.)

There are other areas of the household budget to make economies when needed - and I believe that you either pay more now or pay much much more in the future when even more dairy farms have gone out of business and there isn't enough milk to go round.

It must be heartbreaking being a dairy farmer at the moment.

www.dalesdairies.co.uk/about-dales-dairies.htm linky to my milk supplier for anyone interested.

Problem is for smaller farming families they are in too deep, it's all they have ever done, so they sink into poverty and keep farming.

It's so sad. We buy a lot of dairy, so I'm hoping we can do our bit to support local farming in this way.

They also offer a seasonal veg box, which I'm also tempted by. I did my weekly shop at Aldi last night, and they had almost no veg. No salad whatsoever. It was shite, and means I'll have to make another trip to Tescos to top up. Crap.

" Sorry, but I don't understand this. How else does anyone want the cost of living to be increased? "

Andrew, milk is what is known as a 'loss leader' for the supermarkets.
This is bringing our dairy industry to its knees.
Soon there will be no more dairy farms in the UK and milk will have to be imported.
Nobody 'wants the cost of living to be increased' but we have had super cheap food for nearly 20 years now, and it is the farmers and suppliers that suffer, while the likes of Shirley Porter dance on the tables in Tel Aviv.

I'm in the North West. Hence I think that any local dairy would almost certainly not be an industrial factory farm because there aren't any round here (although they're threatening to build one)

TheGirlFromIpanema I think I am very near you - The Arla place is just off the motorway in a place beginning with S?

I'm conflicted. While we could afford to pay 65p a pint for milk, it would be a big jump in costs at the rate that DP uses it.

Sainsburys released something recently about how much they pay farmers. It costs 68p to produce 4 pints.
Sainsburys pay 72p
Tescos (finally) pay 73p
M & s 78p

Morrison 56p
Asda 56p
Lidl, aldi, Iceland 56-59p

m.thegrocer.co.uk/512330.article?mobilesite=enabled

If milk had gone up in line with houses it would be £56 a pint!!!!

A bit of googling shows me that there are a number of dairies that will deliver in my area.

Isn't it sad that we've forgotten this service in such a short time. When I was a kid we always had a milkman. He went out of business around the time that the big supermarkets took off.

And then we just fell into this habit of getting everything from Tescos. To the point that I'd assumed milk rounds were a thing of the past.

Well apparently they're still delivering, and I'll soon become a customer!

Wondering why Coop aren't on that list. They were very naughty with their pricing a couple of years ago, in total contravention of their "Fair Trade" policies. They claimed to have rectified the discrepancy, but why are they so quiet, here?

The journey of milk is on the poster link below, try seeing if there is a local supplier as well as distributor.

[http://www.ourcowmolly.co.uk/milk/ our cow molly milk]

[http://www.ourcowmolly.co.uk/milk-route-poster.pdf poster]

I live abroad (and buy in litres).

1.19 euro (about 85p now the exchange rate is so bad) for 1 litre of supermarket own brand organic full-fat. (semi skimmed is 8 cents cheaper; we can't get skimmed). Value brand non-organic is 89 cents (64p).

So I pay about 49p per pint, I think (unless my maths is out) - quite a bit more. I don't think anyone is up in arms about it. (The exchange rate for the euro is awful currently, which makes it look like we are paying less as well.)

Great link Damn I was hoping this thread would help me learn more, and it certainly has.

I was reluctant to start this thread because I thought everyone would jump on me and say that most people can't afford to pay more for their milk and I was being unreasonable to expect it to cost more!

I don't have DCs so I'm a bit out of touch with the cost of living for a normal family of 4.

I would happily pay more for milk and actually buy mine from Sainsbury's or Waitrose (do the main shop in Lidl) because they pay the dairy farmers more see More or Less report for more info.

I used to get milk from the milkman but stopped, not due to the cost but because they regularly didn't deliver until after 8.30 which was far too late for breakfast. Plus my milkman was DairyCrest and they are no better at paying farmers a decent amount.

YANBU

I would happily pay more, I watched a documentary and dairy farmers are really struggling. Some are currently losing money on each pint instead of making it.

Aaaaargh forgot double brackets sorry!

our cow molly milk

poster

Ilkley I'm accross town where they used to have their head office place that starts with K.

I've just got used to the cost. It's worth so much more than just the milk deliveries imho. I'm more aldi than organic with other things but being close buds with a milky opened my eyes!

Rude you probably have milkys that take deliveries from Grassington in your area. I love driving up the A65 when we go camping and seeing the actual cows that give us our milk

We were talking about this last night in Coop. Two of the big bottles for 2 quid. Outrqgeous.