Co-op 4 pints of milk £1.59

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

Whaaaaat! Almost put it back when I got to the till, if it wasn't for the fact we'd run out and DD was asking for it I would have done.

So uncompetitive when Asda, Sainsbos and Tesco are charging a pound. Even Waitrose is only £1.39.

[sassytheFIRST]

Perhaps they are paying the dairy farmers a fair price instead of underpaying them hideously. Just a thought...

[MoaningMingeWhingesAgain]

I don't mind paying tbh.
If I only need essentials I still spend less overall at co op or corner shop. but if I go to the supermarket I come back with lots of stuff I didn't need and spend a lot more.

[MoaningMingeWhingesAgain]

plus the co op often has fab deals on chocolate and laundry detergent

[kiwiscantfly]

The cheapest I can find 2l (4pts give or take) of milk in NZ is $3.10, and that is equivalent to what you are paying.

[misdee]

1% milk tends to be £1 for 4 pints, its between semi skimmed and skimmed milk.

[NigellasDealer]

yes well if you knew how much the diary farmers get paid for that 4 pints you would be shocked. pretty soon there will be no more domestic milk production and milk will have to be imported. British dairy farmers are on their knees thanks to being screwed over by the supermarkets and to customers' endless and thoughtless greed for cheap milk.

[Flossiechops]

But are they paying the farmers more or are they pocketing it themselves? I'd put my money on the latter.

[DelGirl]

We pay that for 2 pints here in Italy! That said, the wine is cheap ]

[NigellasDealer]

well the co=op do trade on being more 'ethical' whatever that really means.

[Branleuse]

milk being £1 for 4 pints is why dairy farms are being closed at a rate of knots.
The coop is one of the few supermarkets that pay a premium to its dairy farmers because supermarkets forcing farmers to slash their prices constantly is unsustainable. Its the farmers who take the hit, not the supermarkets.

[onedogatoddlerandababy]

They did a bit on this on countryfile on Sunday. Apparently there is a milk 'price war' on at the moment, much like the baked beans/white sliced bread ones of years ago.

Sainsburys confirmed that at present they are still paying the dairy farmers the same as they were before (not sure about tesco/asda etc) but how long that will go on for, who knows.

Waitrose & Co op both said they're not entering into the price war on milk.

I think it's a shame that farmers work so hard, at the mercy of the elements (and the supermarkets) to feed us and yet the majority thinks they should be able to buy produce for pennies

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

How fascinating! We're a very ethical bunch when it comes to milk! Are we as ethical when it comes to other good groups? Meat? Cereals? Forest devastation caused by the requirement for palm oil etc?

[NigellasDealer]

the thing is we are not 'a very ethical bunch' at all - we are in the endless quest for cheap milk at the expense of British farmers.

[annielostit]

I'd not be impressed with that price, I agree that no one is ethical, we all have our price. The farm near us had veg, free range eggs, nice jams etc for years, working in the elements, such a hard working man. Then sold half his land for over 10 million to a house building company. Poor farmer.

[onedogatoddlerandababy]

holly directed at me?? Yep, buy organic/local milk from the farm shop, which is also where I buy most of my meat - will buy free range chicken from the supermarkets. Only buy British farmed pork products because I know we have better welfare than Danish pork does.

Palm oil is in loads of stuff, but a quick check in the cupboards shows only in dd1's Ella's kitchen biscuits (is organic better or not?) and in the white bread. Probably in the hot cross buns too, but don't buy much in the way of biscuits/cakes etc

Tbf short of producing it yourself, it'll never be that ethical, but to give some consideration to what price is paid to the people who produce our food is not an outrageous concept.

And as for the farmer selling his land for development, there are some round my way that have done that, I guess it's 'easy' money (if you ignore any possible emotional attachment to a family farm, though I'd get over that for £10m ) and often less stressful that trying to continue to farm for a fair price on your produce.

Just my thoughts.

[unintentionalthreadkiller]

It was £1.69 in Lidl the other day.

[mummytime]

I am now feeling guilty everytime I buy milk as £1 for 4 pints can't be enough. If Co-op is charging a fair price then I wish we had one this side of town.

I do try to avoid Palm Oil (not easy), buy organic, free range, fairtrade etc. I'll probably go back to buying organic milk, even though its about twice as much.

[sheppysheep]

Our nearest shop is a Co-op and the price of basics/lack of offers annoys me. I suck it up and figure it's an extra cost for the convenience (of not having to travel further to bigger supermarkets) and it sort of evens out with the amount of yellow stickered bargains I pick up for the freezer. We frequently get money off till spit vouchers as well, which works out at around 10% off.

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

No one dog not aimed at anyone, just having a debate really. It's interesting that when we talk about Sainsburys own brand pasta or something I've never seen a response to say no we should ensure the wheat farmers are paid a fair price and buy a different brand.

I personally couldn't afford a 59% increase in price to be ethical.

[ShatnersBassoon]

I love my local Co-op. It's my corner shop. I pay £1.59 for milk there because it's convenient and I don't doubt their claims that they give their dairy farmers a fair amount per pint. It might be 59% more expensive, but when you're talking about pence, I don't care. It's just 40p per pint, which seems good value still.

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

It is just 59p but we get through at least 8 pints a week (young DD) so that's over 60 quid a year difference. For me that is significant money.

[Thatballwasin]

My DF was a dairy farmer. He could never square the price of milk vs that of bottled water. I've started getting milk delivered from a local farm. It saves me money in the end though at the expense of my local corner shop as it means I never have to nip in there for a pint so not tempted to buy 10 creme eggs and packets of kettle chips

[poocatcherchampion]

8 pints a week! we have recently cut down to 16. 2 adults and a toddler..

[chocolatespiders]

What one dog said.. It was on the news how 4pinrs was £1 and that coop and waitrose are not taking part in the war
They also reported on the high levels of dairy farms going out of business which is sad

[Jinty64]

We use 4 pints a day if the teenagers are on cereal!