Price of butter

adsk

When I was in Germany in early August there was a huge fuss because butter went up in price 50% overnight. The world price for powdered milk was blamed - the raw product (milk) had greatly increased in price since farmers/retailers had last fixed the price of dairy products.

I was wondering how long it would be until something similar happened here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2139703,00.html

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,502413,00.html if you're interested.

cheerfulness4

I noticed on Friday that Tesco seems to have hiked their prices up before everyone else. I quickly about turned to Morrisons and bought up cheaper (much cheaper!) flour, pasta etc. It was on loads of stuff, not even just fresh and farm goods. Was shocked! No doubt will now means hikes in all the others.

thriftlady_2

Just found this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/12/wcheese112.xml

Debt_Free_Chick

adsk wrote: »

When I was in Germany in early August there was a huge fuss because butter went up in price 50% overnight. The world price for powdered milk was blamed - the raw product (milk) had greatly increased in price since farmers/retailers had last fixed the price of dairy products.

I was wondering how long it would be until something similar happened here.

For the sake of our Dairy Industry, I do hope so! Otherwise we shall have no British Milk and be importing it :eek:

Debt_Free_Chick

thriftlady wrote: »

Just found this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/12/wcheese112.xml

Very interesting. I've just posted a link to an article in yesterday's Telegraph about the precarious state of the British Dairy Industry.

Interestingly, it seems that the French Dairy farmer fairs better than his British counterpart - as much of his milk goes to cheese production and the French eat twice as much cheese as the Brits.

I fear our food infrastructure is stuffed. Of course we want food at the right price (cheap?) but if our quest for cheap food drives our farmers out of business (or worse, to suicide), are we really getting a good deal?

Do we really not care if all our food is imported?

basil01_2

Thriftlady your telegraph link is spot on.
Milk prices are on the up. Upto a month or so ago wholesale milk price per litre from farmers was as low as 13p, this has been increasing and some farmers are now seeing 26p per litre - demand has been the greatest for turning into milk powder and Pasturised can't be found for love nor money atm.
This can only have a knock on effect throughout the supply chain.
I'd guess that supermarkets will be getting their milk at a fixed price, by contracts with suppliers (though these can't be everlasting). I think that this doesn't apply for butter, cheese etc.
The answer? Stock up now maybe?
Form a queue for your butter here please!

SUESMITH_2

just got my delivery from tescos and the butter has gone up

basil01_2

Just another thought.
You have to remember that the UK has seen one of the wetest summers on history. This has a knock on effect on grain prices, so it costs the farmer more to feed his cows and thus produce the milk in the first place.
British farming is on knees, and has been for many years. The like of the EU Single Farm Payment doesn't encourage farmers to produce, it encourages them to manage the land. Old UK subsidies used to pay farmers to produce more, so they did.

freyasmum

Hi thriftlady,

Value plain and self-raising flours are (or were, last time I checked) up 12p to 43p per pack.

Lx

Debt_Free_Chick

basil01 wrote: »

Just another thought.
You have to remember that the UK has seen one of the wetest summers on history. This has a knock on effect on grain prices, so it costs the farmer more to feed his cows and thus produce the milk in the first place.

And there is a knock on effect to Winter feed as silage & haylage production was severely affected by the July rain. So ... we ought to expect to see the price of meat & milk increase over the coming months.

British farming is on knees, and has been for many years. The like of the EU Single Farm Payment doesn't encourage farmers to produce, it encourages them to manage the land. Old UK subsidies used to pay farmers to produce more, so they did.

It's a fair point, but I don't see UK farming turning all their land over to wildlife. They get the SFP simply for leaving a margin along the edge of the field - they can still produce food. What we really need is for the UK shopper to understand what they're buying and to appreciate the real value of British Food. And to recognise that their food will be vastly different if it's all imported.

And, whilst it's an unpalatable thought ..... if there were a war, we are land-locked. If we were, during war, dependent on imported food, we could literally starve