Milk price fixing - is it a cartel?

[ubiquitous]

Okay - if you want to hijack the discussion with a debate on semantics, go ahead and please yourself. I'm certainly not going to submit myself to cross-examination (ie "how exactly...") from you or anybody else in relation to this discussion. If people insist on butting in and attempting to control the course of a discussion, there is little point in anyone bothering to contribute.

 

[Trafford]

Okay - if you want to hijack the discussion with a debate on semantics, go ahead and please yourself. I'm certainly not going to submit myself to cross-examination (ie "how exactly...") from you or anybody else in relation to this discussion. If people insist on butting in and attempting to control the course of a discussion, there is little point in anyone bothering to contribute.

To whom are you referring?

 

[ClubMan]

To whom are you referring?

Me.

Okay - if you want to hijack the discussion with a debate on semantics, go ahead and please yourself. I'm certainly not going to submit myself to cross-examination (ie "how exactly...") from you or anybody else in relation to this discussion. If people insist on butting in and attempting to control the course of a discussion, there is little point in anyone bothering to contribute.

Not semantics. This thread is about the price of milk - not the price or nutritional content of bottled water or fizzy drinks. Feel free to open a new thread on those issues if you like. Otherwise...

 

[Protocol]

The milk price rise isn't a cartel.

It's just general inflation, after several years at 1.19 for 2 litres.

 

[Protocol]

Doctors, accountants, some solicitors, medical consultants, publicans, now they are all cartels!!

 

[ubiquitous]

... accountants, .... now they are all cartels!!

Explain please? Unlike the other occupations you mention, one can open up an accountancy business and call oneself an accountant, without any need for either a cent in financial resources or any sort of educational qualification. Not exactly the classic signs of a cartel in my book...

...some solicitors, ... now they are all cartels!!

A contradiction in terms, I would have thought? A cartel cannot exist unless all the operators in the market conspire to participate in it. If only some do, then by definition there is competition in the market, and hence no cartel exists.

 

[ubiquitous]

Me.

Not semantics. This thread is about the price of milk - not the price or nutritional content of bottled water or fizzy drinks. Feel free to open a new thread on those issues if you like. Otherwise...

My own comment was well on topic. I will repeat it for your benefit.

People for some reason are acutely price-conscious when it comes to milk but are blissfully ignorant of prices and price trends for bottled water, fizzy drinks and (God help us) smoothies, and seem happy to pay almost any price for these latter products. I wonder why this is the case?

 

[MrKeane]

I think the point is relevant, and well-made. People for some reason are acutely price-conscious when it comes to milk but are blissfully ignorant of prices and price trends for bottled water, fizzy drinks and (God help us) smoothies, and seem happy to pay almost any price for these latter products. I wonder why this is the case?

I doubt you have 2 young kids so. At their "peak" of guzzling milk we would go through maybe 20 litres of milk a week. There is a lot of hassle involved in keeping milk in the fridge. It has been known to run out at 4am and I have had to drive 8 miles to the nearest 24 hour shop, obviously price is not a factor at this point.

How many families of 4 would consume 20 litres of Coke in a week? Coke that goes off after a few days? Coke that must be kept in the fridge and takes up half the space in it?

We rarely buy soft drinks but if I had a need to buy 20 litres of Coke every week which went off after a few days then yes I would be very price wary of it.

 

[ubiquitous]

I doubt you have 2 young kids so. At their "peak" of guzzling milk we would go through maybe 20 litres of milk a week. There is a lot of hassle involved in keeping milk in the fridge. It has been known to run out at 4am and I have had to drive 8 miles to the nearest 24 hour shop, obviously price is not a factor at this point.

Funny enough, now that you mention it, we do have 2 young kids (still preschool), one of whom displayed dairy allergy symptoms when he was a baby so he and his brother now drink goats milk, which costs €2.70 a litre, AND we have to drive about 5 miles out of our way to a particular shop to buy it, often at unsociable hours. (24 hour shops and service stations never stock goats milk).

Between them, our children drink up to 10 litres of goats milk per week. Of course its expensive but its well worth it once the kids are healthy. In fact, we're bloody glad to be able to buy it if and when we can. I personally don't have a particular gripe about the price of the stuff, and I think the €25 or so that we spend on goats milk every week is very good value compared to the €15 or so that we spend on the occasional times that we bring the kids to smoothie bars or some of the nicer coffee shops, or indeed the €€€ we fork out on mum 'n dad's once-in-a-blue-moon outings to the local pub.

 

[Sue Ellen]

I have been buying about 10 litres of milk for the last few years since my kids arrived. "Own brand" milk has always been €1.19 in Dunnes, Lidl and Tesco. I went to Lidl the other day and it had gone up to €1.29. Suprise, suprise when I went to Dunnes this evening it had gone up to €1.29 as well, what a coincidence.

Is this practice legal?

Noticed this evening that Dunnes have now raised the price to €1.49 from €1.29. Quite a hike in price for any families with a few young children.

 

[Gypsy girl]

Tesco price for 2lt Milk now €1.49 also! Quite a hike I thought.

 

[dontaskme]

milk prices are increasing across Europe. According to some measures they have increased 50% in Germany. The apparent reason is demand from China and other developing countries. This follows increases in many other commodity prices over the last few years.