The cost of bread and milk

[MsWildFlower]

In the last few months we have had a dramatic increase in the cost of dairy products, especially cheese and butter. I was just wondering what prices were like in the UK for similar products ...

I don't have the correct symbol for pounds on my keyboard so I have just done a rough currency conversion and put GBP instead. Hope it makes sense.

500g butter NZ$4.99. It used to be $2.99-3.50'ish. GBP1.94
1 kg Edam cheese $14.99. Another huge hike, used to be $9-10 GBP5.83
1 kg yoghurt $6.39 GBP2.49
(prices taken from a quick look at the woolworths online site).

EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

Are we getting very expensive for these items which are produced here on such a massive scale or are we still 'living the life'????????

[Millymollymandy]

I haven't looked at the prices of things like that recently, but I did have a look at 6 supermarket free range eggs. Before I got my hens they were €1.32, a couple of years later they were €1.31, but the other day they were €1.68!!!!! If anyone wants to buy my eggs (I wish) I'm putting the price up!

Edam is silly cheap here, something like €4.99 per kg. Shame it is so horrible though. Most French cheeses (and cheddar) cost from €9 - 14 per kg which is astronomical.

[MikeM]

there's anumber of factors at play here; for a long time food (especially dairy) has been historically cheap. This is changing now, partially as a result of fewer dairy farmers but principally because China, with it's new found wealth, is adopting a more western diet, heavy in meat and dairy. I've read that the price of raw milk has gone up by something like 50% in the last year.
Coupled with the rise in the price of wheat, it all adds up to higher prices in the shops.
Yet another misery factor, for those of us who keep an eye on the economy and are waiting for it to go into recession.
Still, should be good for the enviroment.

[hamster]

I haven't noticed either milk or flour (make bread, don't buy it) go up in price recently, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they do soon, for the reasons MikeM mentioned. Next time I go shopping, I'll look to see how much they are for comparison with NZ and France.

[ina]

Prices have gone up massively here - at last! Food has been far too cheap for a long time (thanks to pressure from the supermarkets). No wonder so many farmers have gone bankrupt, and that goes for all countries, not just the UK.

Livestock feed has increased in price last year, partly due to the bad weather (floods here, droughts in other parts of the world); partly because of the idiotic idea to grow crops for biodiesel now rather than food; and partly because (as has been mentioned) the higher consumption of countries like China.

[theabsinthefairy]

I find the prices for dairy products quite high here in France, especially for cheese with any sort of flavour in it (that's my OH and daughter's taste - not mine as I don't eat cheese).

250g of good quality butter is nearly 4€.

Baguettes vary from around 70c to over a euro, and sliced bread again is nearly 2€ for a tiny loaf.

Have found therefore, that if I want bread, it is loads cheaper to buy the flour and make it myself, even to buy the prepared flour mixes to make wholegrain and granary breads.

We are also quite lucky in being able to buy flour direct from the bakery and have a BIO shop nearby for grains and seeds etc - all except poppy seed for some reason.

[theabsinthefairy]

Oh - I'm Tom now!!

[MikeM]

we also make our own bread and it's odd that the price of bread has risen recently, the price of flour seems to be the same as before.

[Stonehead]

In January 2007 we spent £30 a week on groceries. The same shopping list now costs £35-40.

We've changed to fortnightly shopping to keep the fuel bill down (which has also risen) and to buying in bulk where we can, but a lot of bulk items are disappearing and surprisingly often they actually work out more expensive.

If our local shop wasn't quite so bad, we'd shift to monthly shopping apart from fortnightly top-ups of perishables.

Oh, and we grow all our veg, much of our fruit, make all our booze and produce all our own meat. It would be much, much worse if we bought all of those.

[ina]

we also make our own bread and it's odd that the price of bread has risen recently, the price of flour seems to be the same as before.

It has risen here - wait a bit, it'll happen soon enough!

[amecoy75002]

Seems that everything is the same around the world. Prices for milk, bread and cheese are way up in America too. a gallon of milk is now over $3.50 (2.39 euro) up from $2.19 (1.49 euro) 6 months ago. A loaf of bread is now $2.65 (1.81 euro).

Basic items are going up all over the grocery store.

[Millymollymandy]

I find the prices for dairy products quite high here in France, especially for cheese with any sort of flavour in it (that's my OH and daughter's taste - not mine as I don't eat cheese).

250g of good quality butter is nearly 4€.

Baguettes vary from around 70c to over a euro, and sliced bread again is nearly 2€ for a tiny loaf.

Have found therefore, that if I want bread, it is loads cheaper to buy the flour and make it myself, even to buy the prepared flour mixes to make wholegrain and granary breads.

We are also quite lucky in being able to buy flour direct from the bakery and have a BIO shop nearby for grains and seeds etc - all except poppy seed for some reason.

Where do you buy your butter from? I must check if the price has gone up but I can get it for less than 1 euro! My prob is trying to find unsalted here in Brittany where salted butter is the norm thanks to the saltworks near Nantes!

Poppy seeds - if you have a Super U near you they sell them now, (and sesame and linseeds - at long last , but not yet sunflower seeds ).

[theabsinthefairy]

HI MMM

SuperU near us is too small to bother with such fancy things!

Butter doux, (unsalted) is readily available, but quality really differs, and for nicer lighter cakes etc, which is the only reason I buy it, the cheaper stuff is a - ick

Monika

[Cheezy]

The cost of everything, and I mean everything has and will contiune to go up.
It's down to the price of oil and the weakness of the dollar. This impacts on the cost of electricity and fuel prices, which effects everything.
China is also sucking in all commodites as well.
However I think people are going to have to come to terms with these increases, and learn to not waste as much.(6.7 million tonnes of food waste last year in household bins) What annoys me is the supermkts are still paying bugger all to the farmers and ripping off the punters.
From the Joliver programme the battery chicken "farmers" get 3p per bird..unbelieveable.
Hill farmers are getting £5 per lamb this season, thats below what it costs to produce them.
However we are lucky to get a direct doorstep delivery from our local organic dairy (Acorn Dairy http://www.acorndairy.co.uk) of milk and eggs, and have done so for the last 7 years, and I note their prices haven't shot up....but we're paying more to start with. (but happy to do so because the farmer gets it direct, its local, tastes brillient and its organic.)
A pint of milk is 46p delivered
eggs are £1.43 for 6 delivered.
same prices as last year.

Check out their website its a wealth of info, And one day I hope everyone could be as lucky as we are and have local farmers like these guys less than 2 miles away, delivering direct.

[Macha]

A 4 pt carton of milk is £1.34 and butter about 90p-£1.00 we are trying to cut back on what we buy now eg making own bread, bics and cakes and reducing the amount we waste, throwing out food is a hanging offence in our house now.