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Thread ID: 88489	2008-03-29 05:26:00	Who do you blame for the price of milk ?	Digby (677)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
653925	2008-03-29 19:14:00	I blame the cows - we need more.	pcuser42 (130)
653926	2008-03-29 20:28:00	India. You will not believe how cheap the milk is there. The costs have gone up but its nothing like here I think. And butter and cheese too. You didn't mention how to keep it fresh,and reasonably clean!	Cicero (40)
653927	2008-03-29 20:40:00	So, who DO you blame? I mean most of your post had nothing to do with the poll, just going on about Whey. WTF? The poll is flawed like most polls. You can't just put the BLAME on one or the other without more facts. This is why I did not vote. Fonterra is a co-operative organisation composed of dairy farmers each of which hold shares in the company so possibly let us blame the farmers. Fonterra have to get rid of byproducts and to do that they use services such as the one we supply. For us to be able to spread whey we need a resource consent which are not all that easy to come by and have strict conditions so possibly blame the RMA which means the Government. Then maybe just blame my Boss as he has made himself a multi millionaire. He put up a milking shed 2 years ago which cost in the region of $5 million. So we could blame building costs for that so we could reduce the wages for the carpenters and that will reduce the price of milk maybe. I know you can't blame me as I started 12 years ago as a truck driver on $10.00 per hour and I am now on $14.50. Due to the hours I work I still had a take home pay of $700 last week. As I have no idea what the wholesale price of milk is as compared to the retail price I am hardly in a position to judge supermarkets. Can you tell me with certain knowledge what markup supermarkets make on milk? Also we happen to have drought conditions in much of the country and farmers have to buy food for the cows. This costs money!	Sweep (90)
653928	2008-03-29 21:01:00	You didn't mention how to keep it fresh,and reasonably clean! It was also not mentioned about high cell counts, mastitus, vet bills etc. We would not let the facts spoil a good debate though. Maybe we should all buy one cow each and look after it. That way we could milk Fonterra?	Sweep (90)
653929	2008-03-29 21:41:00	Most other retailers have margins of between 50% and 200% (depending on ticket price). I wise :crying being in the retail business I can tell you now if prices were marked up like that there would be no sales. Esp in computer parts. I like pcuserwinxp's reply -"I blame the cows - we need more" Every home should have one :lol:	wainuitech (129)
653930	2008-03-29 21:47:00	It was also not mentioned about high cell counts, mastitus, vet bills etc. We would not let the facts spoil a good debate though. Maybe we should all buy one cow each and look after it. That way we could milk Fonterra? Actually Sweep, I did mention huge increases in costs, in my post, which would cover those specific items you mentioned (good on you for your post though).	jcr1 (893)
653931	2008-03-29 22:46:00	When I was a kid (in a trad single-income-not-wealthy family in Dunedin ) my mother bought either a very large crayfish or a big pottle of Bluff oysters in season as a weekly event. When I became a regular visitor to Stewart Island in my 20s, fishermen friends would often leave a bag of crayfish tails on the doorstep there. At all Island celebrations, oysters came by the sackful. Nobody counted them. Then crayfish became a lucrative overseas market. If someone gave you a couple, it came off his quota. The oyster beds got bonamia. Severe restrictions came in. Not only were fewer oysters gathered, but yuppie Aucklanders were prepared to pay ridiculous prices for them. Crayfish & Bluff oysters are now luxuries - unaffordable for average families. Yes, I know that's a far cry from milk products, which we've been reared to think of as basic food. But the underlying reason is the same. When someone's living depends on providing a limited resource, you can't expect them to accept a lower price from one section of the market. And our milk is a limited resource on the world scene. The only practical answer is to give the domectis market a government subsidy. And we've been there/done that in the 50s/60s. It's not an option in today's world trade conditions. Fonterra has done much good for our dairy farmers. Provided it still has some competition, market forces should keep it honest. And the supermarket chains' competition will help. P.S. And I quite forgot my main comment about the poll. I'm not voting, as I believe both choices are wrong. The culprit for our raised prices is the world milk supply.	Laura (43)
653932	2008-03-29 23:04:00	Most countries that produce fundamental but essential products for world markets, are surely likely to be cheap for their domestic market/consumers (e.g. cars/electronics in Japan; Rice and after market popular products in China). So milk should be significantly cheaper in NZ (if not already) relative to their export markets. I have noticed, there is hardly ever "specials" or promotions in pricing for milk (for over 25 years), like beverages (particularly Lion Red, DB, etc). Perhaps a constraint by Fonterra?	kahawai chaser (3545)
653933	2008-03-29 23:21:00	How do I blame? I point fingers and snigger evilly...evilley...evi... I snigger like this Muah ha ha ha...	rob_on_guitar (4196)
653934	2008-03-29 23:32:00	That depends on what you call "specials," kahawai chaser. I've noticed a wide variety of milk prices at the supermarket - not just between the fancy/supplemented/flavoured varieties, as you'd expect, but on basic milk with different brand names. They may not change weekly, but are worth a look. (That's no help if you buy at the dairy with one brand & a higher markup, of course) I've no time right now to check my dockets, but I chose basic Pams milk at New World the other day because it was cheaper than Meadowlea or Meadowfresh or whatever. "Own brands" are like permanent specials. And I'll bet most of them came from the same treatment plant...	Laura (43)
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